NHAIS Notes

NHAIS ILL: The Next 3 Years

2026-04-03T15:34:00.000-04:00

The NHAIS Interlibrary Loan system runs on Share-It, a product from Auto-Graphics (now part of Soutron Global for those keeping score at home). The first contract for this iteration of the system was approved by Governor and Council in July 2019. In 2023 we exercised our option to extend the contract for a period of 3 years. That extension will conclude on June 30, 2026.

We will be going before Governor and Council to seek approval for the remaining 3-year extension available to us in the original contract. If they approve we will continue with our current ILL system until June 30, 2029. We will begin the process of issuing an RFP for the next iteration of NHAIS Interlibrary Loan during 2028.

Today we submitted the contract amendment documents to the NH Department of Information Technology which will review and (hopefully) approve them. This is the first step toward having the contract amendment on the agenda for a June 2026 Governor & Council meeting.

Hello, new Request Manager screen

2026-04-01T13:38:00.000-04:00

Welcome to April and the new Request Manager screen. When you view that screen with the All tab selected (which is what you'll see when you first view the page after last night's software update), you may note several statuses that are not used in our system and were previously hidden. These include the following statuses on the borrower side:

ILL Review
ILL Review Awaiting Lenders
ISO Messages
NCIP Hold Placed
Passed to Local System
Request Transferred

And on the lender side:

ILL Review
ISO Messages
Request Transferred

Of course, you can now hide those statuses and all others with zero requests by choosing the Active tab, which most users will likely find to be the handiest way to view the Request Manager.

Remember that Items Awaiting Trading Partner Response is now Awaiting Borrower Action on the lender side and Awaiting Lender Action on the borrower side.

How do you get rid of those red dots? See the second half of a NHAIS Notes post from March 24. You should certainly have a look at notes on requests in your Borrower Action Items and Lender Action Items areas. It's probably not worth your time to deal with red dots for requests in Complete status. Remember that all requests in Complete or Expired status are automatically deleted after 365 days in either of those statuses.

We've received feedback that the font size on the statuses ought to be larger and have passed that suggestion on to Auto-Graphics.

If you need further help with anything in the NHAIS ILL System, contact the NHAIS Help Desk at nhu-pac@dncr.nh.gov or 603-271-2141.

Request Manager enhancements 3/31

2026-03-31T09:59:00.000-04:00

Tonight's the night the Request Manager page in the NHAIS ILL System gets a new look. The system will be offline for the software update starting at 10 o'clock tonight (Tuesday, Mar. 31). The outage should last no more than 15 minutes.

Key Changes:
• Borrower Action Items and Lender Action Items will be displayed in a default set of groups of related statuses.
o A count for the total number of requests in the Borrower Action Items and Lender Action Items sections is displayed.
• Awaiting Lender Action and Awaiting Borrower Action sections replace “Items awaiting trading partner response” for borrowers and lenders, respectively.
o A count for the total number of requests in the Awaiting Lender Action and Awaiting Borrower Action sections is displayed.
• A Complete section, with a count, includes just those requests in “Complete” status – they have gone through the full ILL cycle and have been checked in by the lender.
• There are three options for which statuses to display:
o “All” – this is the default setting and includes all statuses, even those with 0 active requests
o “Active” – includes only statuses with a count greater than 0
o “Unreviewed Notes” – includes only statuses with one or more requests with an unreviewed note
• The displayed status selection (All, Active, or Unreviewed Notes) is sticky and will persist between sessions for individual logins.
o The status selection remains available even when scrolling to the bottom of the Request Manager.
• Active statuses with at least one request with an “Unreviewed Note” will display with a red dot next to the status to easily alert staff that there are notes to be reviewed.
• The main sections (Borrower Action Items, Awaiting Lender Action, Complete, Lender Action Items, Awaiting Borrower Action, and Complete) can be individually collapsed or expanded.
• Direct access to the ILL Administration User Guide section on the Request Manager is provided.
• The Request Manager will automatically refresh every 30 seconds to display any updated statuses, e.g., new “Pending” requests in the Lender Action Items section.

The first two screenshots below are examples of the Request Manager with “All” statuses selected. These samples provided by Auto-Graphics include some spaces and statuses not used in the NHAIS ILL System. The order in which statuses are listed also varies from what you'll see in our system.

1. “All” is the default selection.
a. Click the 3-dot icon to access “Help” in the ILL Admin User Guide.
2. There are 17 requests altogether in the Borrower Action Items grouping (4 Awaiting Approval + 2 Overdue + 5 Not Received/Overdue + 6 Expired).
a. Click “^” to collapse the section.
3. Requests for which the borrower is expected to take the next action are indicated with the count of requests in that status.
a. Click in the row with a count to open that list of requests in that status.
b. Statuses with a count of 0 are displayed but grayed out.
4. The red dot next to a status indicates there is at least one request in that status with an unreviewed note.
5. When scrolling on the page, as shown below, the option to change the status selection remains available at the top of the page.

In the example below, the same Request Manager as shown above is limited to “Active” statuses.
• “No Request” displays when there are no active requests in a section.

In the example below, the same Request Manager as shown above is limited to “Unreviewed Notes.”

NOTE: Remember that the selection for All, Active, or Unreviewed Notes is sticky so it persists between logins. If “No Requests” is displayed for all sections, as above, check to be sure “Unreviewed Notes” isn’t selected as it will not display requests without an Unreviewed Note.

ALSO: The Request Manager has been added as an option for a staff user’s default opening page. To change the default opening page for your login, go to Your Account and select Your Preferences:

Select “Request Manager” from the drop-down menu in “Default Opening Page”:

No NC Van Mon 3/30

2026-03-30T09:18:00.001-04:00

The NC (North Country) ILL van route is cancelled today. Affected libraries are as follows:

Conway
Madison
Chocorua
Tamworth
Center Sandwich
Plymouth
Campton
Thornton
Lincoln
North Woodstock
Franconia
Bethlehem

Happy Monday to you.

Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

Your Preferences

2026-03-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

Did you know you can have the NHAIS ILL System go straight to the Staff Dashboard or Advanced Search or (coming soon) Request Manager whenever you log in? It's one of the settings on the Your Preferences page:

NHAIS ILL libraries are each assigned 3 different logins with different privileges. Each login can also store a preferred opening page, how search results are sorted, which indexes you'd like to see when you open the Advanced Search page, and a number of other settings. Go to Your Account > Your Preferences, make your selections from drop-down menus, click Save, and see how it works. If you're not sure, just leave settings at "Use Library Default."

New Request Manager views

2026-03-24T10:49:00.000-04:00

As previously mentioned, there's a new look ahead for the Request Manager screen in the NHAIS ILL System. Here's an updated look at what you might see at the start of next month.

When you first open the new Request Manager, you'll see all request statuses listed but the ones with a count of zero will be grayed out. The total number of active requests in each grouping (such as Borrower Action Items) is displayed to the right of the grouping's label. You can hide all those grayed-out entries by selecting the Active tab in the upper right.

In this view, any grouping with all zeroes will display "No Requests." Note the red dot in the above example, next to Overdue on the borrower side. That indicates there's an unreviewed note in one or more of the requests in that status. If you just want to see requests with unreviewed notes, you can choose the Unreviewed Notes tab in the upper right.

Changes to request notes were introduced earlier this month. The red dot is one more feature to increase the chances a note will be seen.

How do you make the unreviewed note icon and the red dot go away? You'll need to view the full request record--the red dot on the Request Manager screen and the unreviewed note icon on the status list will guide you to the title(s) you need to click on.

You could also choose the unreviewed notes icon near the top right of the status list to narrow the list down.

On the full record display screen, click on Review Notes (near the top left).

Once you've read the note in the pop-up window, click Acknowledge Notes to clear things--or choose Cancel if you want the request to continue to be flagged as having an unreviewed note.

CAUTION: Those All/Active/Unreviewed Notes choices on the Request Manager screen are "sticky" from session to session--whatever's selected when you log out will be in effect when you (or somebody else) next uses the same login. If you leave Request Manager with Unreviewed Notes chosen, you may be fooled by seeing a bunch of "No Requests" messages in each grouping the next time you use Request Manager. Choosing Active or All will reveal any requests waiting for your attention.

Public Library Survey UPDATE

2026-03-20T13:02:00.000-04:00

I’m here with an update on the 2025 Public Library Survey.

As of 10:30 a.m. today [Friday, Mar. 20], fifty-seven (57), or roughly 25%, of all participating NH public libraries have submitted their surveys. Well done, folks! *cheers, applause, and cries of “huzzah!”*

As for the rest of you, 😉 there are 42 days left to the April 30th submission deadline. You can do it! Please send me your data.

A note:

Edit Check problems
There have been some continued problems with a few of the edit checks popping up when they shouldn’t, most notably with the Young Adult Programs and General Interest Programs auto-filled totals (3.1c – Programming Totals). It is an added irritation that you don’t need. I’ve submitted a help ticket with Counting Opinions, the survey vendor, and I hope to have those problems corrected soon. In the meantime, if any of these edit checks appear while verifying your library’s survey, adding an explanatory note to the line where the error appears should clear them.

Screenshots of examples of the annoying edit checks and where to enter a note:

Please contact me if you’d like to talk through, walk through, or video-call through the survey and its idiosyncrasies. I’m here to help!

A Happy Vernal Equinox to you all,
Jen

Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov

No SE van Fri 3/20

2026-03-20T09:34:00.003-04:00

The SE ILL van route is cancelled today [Friday, Mar. 20]. Affected libraries are as follows:

Northwood
Center Strafford
Barrington
Rochester
Somersworth
Dover
Lee
Durham
Newmarket
Portsmouth
Rye
North Hampton

Happy First Day of Spring! Enjoy your weekends.

Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

Changes coming to Request Manager

2026-03-18T08:46:00.000-04:00

If all goes according to plan, you'll see a new Request Manager layout when you log into the NHAIS ILL System on April 1. It's not an April Fool's joke, it's something that's been in the works for a long time. Normally, we tell you about program updates the day they're installed. With this update, we're offering a little early glimpse.

This is how things looked in development a couple of months ago. What shows up at the start of next month may appear a little different.

"Items awaiting trading partner response" will be renamed "Awaiting Lender [or Borrower] Action" and completed requests will be moved to their own grouping. You can choose whether you want to see all statuses on the Request Manager screen (as is the case now) or just see active statuses (as seen above)--or even just statuses where there are requests with notes that haven't been looked at. Those display options are sticky from session to session.

Other new features: the Request Manager screen will auto-refresh every 30 seconds and you'll see a red dot where there are unreviewed notes. The latter feature joins other recent efforts to increase the likelihood that notes attached to requests are seen by the appropriate parties. Also new: you'll have the option to make Request Manager the default opening page when you sign in.

The functionality of status lists (which you see after clicking on an active status) remains unchanged.

Brief ILL outage Tue 3/17 10pm

2026-03-17T07:56:00.000-04:00

The NHAIS ILL System will be offline briefly starting at 10 o'clock tonight (Tuesday, Mar. 17) for system maintenance. No software enhancements will be installed tonight.

2025 Public Library Survey Walkthrough - Week Five

2026-03-13T11:17:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Week 5, the FINAL week of the Public Library Survey Tour: Our People are the Best!

SURVEY DUE DATE: April 30, 2026
TODAY'S EARWORM: The entire Les Misérables soundtrack

Please note: Although the tour is wrapping up today, you should continue to keep those questions coming in. The survey itself will be open until April 30, which gives you 51 more days to finish up. Do you need individual help to wrap up a few questions? Please email me (Jennifer.m.finch@dncr.nh.gov) or give me a call (603-271-2060) and we can arrange to chat via phone, Zoom, or carrier pigeon.

Today we’ll be working on Sections 12 through 14, Staff and Digital Services.

The staffing questions ask for numbers that represent the hours worked in your library as a “snapshot in time”. Any library that has had turnover during the year may find it challenging to know how to complete this section. Since they are looking for a “snapshot in time”, even if you had turnover in your library during the year, you will only be reporting this information for one day; typically, the staffing on the last day of the year you are reporting on. For the purposes of the survey:

• Report the number of hours worked in a typical week. If you have employees who do not work a set number of hours per week, please use the number that you feel best represents the typical hours per week for those people.
• Include the hours for all funded positions for the library, whether they were filled on the last day of the year or not. You are reporting on all positions that were filled at that time and that you were authorized to fill.
• If there were staffing changes during the year that changed the number of hours worked in any category, use the more recent staffing schedule of hours for your numbers.

As in other sections, the totals for each category are grayed out and will change as you enter your local numbers.

Section 12.0 - Paid Staff (Full-Time Equivalent)

To provide comparable data, the IMLS has set 40 hours per week as the standard work week for figuring FTE. For each staffing category that you report, the system will divide the number of hours entered by 40 to determine your library's full-time equivalent (FTE) headcount.

For example, if an employee works 30 hours in a standard 40-hour week, their FTE calculation would be: 30 ÷ 40 = 0.75 FTE.

In this section, you will report the number of hours worked per week for staff in several categories:

• ALA-MLS Librarians – The total number of hours worked per week by all librarians holding an MLS degree from an ALA-accredited school.
• Non-ALA-MLS Librarians – The total number of hours worked per week by all librarians without an MLS degree. This would include the hours of anyone with the job title of Librarian, who does paid work requiring professional level skills and responsibilities.
• All Other Paid Employees – The total number of hours worked per week by all other staff who are not employed as professional librarians. This may include library support staff, technicians, pages, maintenance, security personnel, and others.

Section 13.0 - Staff Salary & Benefits

Please update the information for the year in question and be sure to report the data for each position only once. In cases of staff turnover for any position, respond using data from the person who held the position longest for the year.

• Position – For each full or part-time employee, select a position title from the dropdown list. The list was created to provide a standardized selection to avoid compound job titles and make the salary and benefits information more comparable across libraries. All librarians wear multiple hats and often job descriptions cover multiple roles but try to avoid using the “other” category. Instead choose the title that is the primary role for that person in your library. If your library is a one-person operation, select the title “Director/Head Librarian”. If someone is the Assistant Director, but serves in other roles as well, select the title “Assistant Director”.
• Education – For each full or part-time employee, select their highest degree from the dropdown list.
• Years in Position – Enter the number of years this individual has worked in this position in your library. If the person has worked at your library less than one year, you will need to leave this item blank. The system won’t allow us to enter a number smaller than 1 in this field.
• Hours Per Week – Enter the number of hours the person works in a typical week.
• Hourly Wage ($/hr) – Enter the hourly rate of pay for each employee rather than an annual salary so that we will have comparable numbers to transfer to the shared spreadsheet. Only an hourly rate of pay provides a meaningful comparison between libraries. For those who have avoided answering this question in the past, I encourage you to complete it this year by providing my own hourly pay rate here to you: $28.74.
• Min. and Max. Salary Range – Enter the salary range as it would appear on a job posting for that position.
• Number of Vacation Days – Enter the number of vacation days earned annually by the person in that position – not the total number of days that person has accrued.
• Benefits – Check all benefits that are included for each position regardless of whether the person currently in the position has selected to receive the benefit.

Section 14.0 - Digital

In this final (!) section, you will report the numbers related to computer use, Wi-Fi, and the like.

• Internet Computers Used by the General Public – The number of computers in your library (desktop & laptop) having internet access that were available to the public. Do not include computers that are restricted to a single, dedicated purpose such as an OPAC.
• Number of Uses (Sessions) of Public Internet Computers per Year – The total number of uses (sessions) of all the public computers having internet access for the year. If the computer is used for multiple purposes (Internet access, word-processing, OPAC, etc.) and Internet uses (sessions) cannot be isolated, report all usage. If an actual count is unavailable, an annual estimate is acceptable. To calculate an annual estimate, count the number of visits during an average week (not too busy, not too slow) and multiply it by 52.
• Wireless Sessions Per Year – The total number of wireless sessions provided by the library for the year. Each time a device connects to the library’s wireless network counts as one session. This number should be available from your internet service provider. If you do offer Wi-Fi connectivity in your library, but can’t get the number, use the response “Unavailable”. If you do not offer a way for people to connect to Wi-Fi in your library, your answer to this question should be zero.
• What ILS does your library use? – This is a prepopulated field based on information we have on your library. If your ILS has changed, please notify me so we can make the correction.
• Does the Library Charge Overdue Fines? – As of the last day of the year you are reporting on, did your library charge overdue fines to any users who failed to return physical print materials by the date due? Note: This does not refer to replacement costs for damaged or lost materials.

That’s it! If you have followed along with me, you have either completed your survey, or you’re so close you can see the finish line. PLEASE let me know if you hit any sticky patches. I’m here to help! If you would like to go over anything with me, feel free to call or e-mail me to arrange a time where we can look at your survey together and you can get things finished up.

Thanks again for all your diligence in completing this important work. It will help all of us to demonstrate the value of New Hampshire libraries to our communities.

Best wishes,
Jen

Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov

Update: New van stop #s for some libraries

2026-03-11T15:19:00.000-04:00

I’m providing some additional information to clear up any confusion.

This change is automatic. Any new shipping labels printed from NHAIS will automatically provide the new numbers for any affected stops. You do not need to manually add this information to any shipping labels.

This change was made in NHAIS yesterday [Tuesday, Mar. 10], so there are still materials in transit that use the old numbers on the shipping labels. Anything printed yesterday afternoon and later will have the new numbers, but it may take a few weeks until all materials using the old numbers are delivered/returned. Until then, it’s fine that some labels show the old numbers.

Please reach out if I can provide any further information.

Thank you!
Jacob Kowall
Reference Librarian
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
603-271-2239
Jacob.D.Kowall@dncr.nh.gov

New van stop #s for some libraries

2026-03-10T14:06:00.000-04:00

Today at NHSL we made some slight adjustments to the numbers used to identify ILL van stops. Some libraries will now have a new stop number in NHAIS.

All future shipping slips will use these new numbers. The libraries with new stop numbers are as follows:

NC 1
Madison
Chocorua

NC 2
Bethlehem
Lisbon
Littleton

NC 3
Colebrook
Errol
WMCC
Berlin
Randolph
Gorham

NC 4
Whitefield
Dalton
Lancaster
Groveton
Stratford

NC 5
Haverhill
North Haverhill
Woodsville
Monroe
Bath

NC 6
Rumney
Wentworth
Warren
Orford
Piermont

NC 7
Jackson
North Conway
Bartlett
Twin Mountain
Jefferson

NC 8
Campton
Thornton
North Woodstock
Lincoln

NC 9
Franconia

NC 10
Conway

NC 11
Plymouth

NC 12
Center Sandwich

NC 13
Tamworth

90
Colby Sawyer College

91
Dartmouth College

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Jacob

Jacob Kowall
Reference Librarian
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
603-271-2239
Jacob.D.Kowall@dncr.nh.gov

ILL issues update Tue 3/10

2026-03-10T09:55:00.001-04:00

Tuesday, Mar. 10, 9:55 a.m.: Since Friday, several libraries have been seeing a Category column with "GUEST" and/or "PATRON" on Request Manager status pages in the NHAIS ILL System. They're also finding the column with drop-down status change choices missing.

Auto-Graphics now tells us this is something they cannot apply a global fix to. You can correct the column display yourself fairly easily but it needs to happen for each active status on the borrower side (so far we haven't heard of this problem showing up on the lender side of the Request Manager). Additionally, Auto-Graphics suggests clearing the browser cache and cookies before modifying the column displays. How to do that will vary by browser--search the Internet for "clear cache Chrome," "clear cache Firefox," "clear cache Edge," etc., for instructions. Be aware that clearing cookies means you'll lose any logins and site preferences you've saved in your browser.

With the browser clearing done, log into the NHAIS ILL System and go to Request Manager. Click on an active (linked) status on the borrower (left) side of the screen. If the resulting list includes the Category column, click on the gear icon (on the right) to open a list of available columns.

Uncheck Category, check Status, make any other column display changes you want (you can safely get rid of the ISSI Lender and Outside Library columns as they serve no useful purpose in our system), and click the gear icon again.

Click Close (upper right) to go back to Request Manager screen and repeat the process with the next active status on the borrower side.

Still need help? Contact the NHAIS Help Desk at 603-271-2141 or nhu-pac@dncr.nh.gov.

ILL issues update Mon 3/9

2026-03-09T08:35:00.000-04:00

Monday, Mar. 9, 8:35 a.m.: One of the bugs noted in the NHAIS ILL System on Friday has been fixed; the other continues to be looked at.

-Choosing the "Notes" tab when viewing the Borrower Requests or Lender Requests lists now displays expected results rather than listing thousands of requests that don't belong there.

-When viewing status lists in Request Manager, you may still encounter the "Category" column where you're expecting to see "Status":

While this issue remains under investigation you can change the view by selecting the gear icon in the upper right, uncheck Category, check Status, and click on the gear again.

ILL issues Fri 3/6

2026-03-06T14:32:00.000-05:00

Friday, Mar. 6, 2:30 p.m.: A few bugs have been noted in the NHAIS ILL System today, presumably connected to last night's installation of enhancements to request notes.

-When viewing status screens in Request Manager, you may see a "Category" column that says "Guest" on every line where you're expecting to see the current status with the drop-down option to change it. If you run into that, click the gear icon (upper right), uncheck Category, check Status, click on the gear again, and all should be well.

-When viewing the Lender Requests or Borrower Requests screens, choosing the new "Notes" button will bring you screens with way more information than is useful.

Auto-Graphics is aware of these issues and working on them.

Annual Survey - Annoying Error has been Removed

2026-03-06T13:16:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone, especially those of you jousting with the Public Library Survey.

For some unknown reason, libraries with no e-video circulation have been getting an edit check in survey line 6.10 that 0 != 0, as illustrated in the screenshots. They had to enter an explanatory note in 6.10 to clear it. (usually something like “we don’t have e-videos!”)

In my book, zero DOES equal zero. :-/ Just ask ancient Indian mathematicians.

Now for the good news: This wonky edit check has been removed and should no longer appear.

Small nibbles of cheer. I live for them.

Have a good weekend, folks.
- Jen

Jennifer M. Finch (she/her)
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov

FYI: NHSL ILL Van communications

2026-03-06T09:40:00.000-05:00

The best way to reach the State Library regarding your library’s ILL deliveries, any library closures, messages for the van drivers, etc. is to call or email us at the following:

NHSL Circulation Desk: 603.271.2616
NHSL ILL: nhslill@dncr.nh.gov

Multiple people have access to both, so the message will reach someone. 😊

Thanks muchly,
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

Changes to ILL notes

2026-03-05T08:58:00.000-05:00

The NHAIS ILL System will be offline briefly starting at 10 o'clock tonight (Thursday, March 5) for software updates, including a fix for an issue with the Due Date calendar. When a lending library entered a custom February due date, the month was changed to March. This has been corrected.

Also coming tonight are changes to enhance the visibility of notes added to requests. Say goodbye to the pushpin icon and watch for new icons that will track whether a note has been viewed. It is hoped the changes detailed below will increase the likelihood that notes about special due dates for book groups or "large print only, please" will be seen by the parties that need to see them.

There will be new indicators and a “Review” action to acknowledge notes and remove the indicators. The feature is triggered by specific note types, depending on whether the library is acting as borrower or lender. For borrowers, changes will affect Lender Notes, Patron Notes, Volumes Needed Notes, and Volume (article information for nonreturnable request). For lenders, changes will affect Borrower Notes, Volumes Needed Notes, and Volume. Borrowers are not alerted if a Borrower’s Note or Internal Staff Note is added. Lenders are not alerted if a Lender’s Note or Internal Staff Note is added.

An “Unreviewed Note” icon will display when there are new or edited notes:

A “Reviewed Note” icon will display after the note(s) have been reviewed:

This feature is not retroactive and applies to new or updated notes after tonight's update and affects these areas:

1. Status lists. The screenshot below illustrates the following items:
a. Clicking on the icon in the left most column of the status lists will sort requests by their note indicator.
b. Clicking on the icon in the upper right of the status lists allows staff to display only requests with unreviewed notes.
c. The “Unreviewed Note” icon will display next to the title for any new or updated note. Hover over it to display the note type(s) that need to be reviewed.
d. The “Reviewed Note” icon will display next to the title after the note has been reviewed.

-For borrowing library staff, the note icons are new; prior to this release, there was no indication if there was a note on a request.
-For lending library staff, the note icons replace the blue pushpin that displayed if there was a note on a request.

2. Borrower Requests and Lender Requests. The screenshot below illustrates the following items:
a. Clicking “Notes” displays only requests with notes that have been reviewed.
b. Clicking “Unreviewed Notes” displays only requests with notes that need to be reviewed.
c. The “Unreviewed Note” icon will display next to the “Edit” icon when the request has new or updated notes. Hover over the “Unreviewed Note” icon to display the note type(s) that need to be reviewed.
-Not shown: The “Reviewed Note” icon will display next to the “Edit” icon after the note has been reviewed.

3. Request Record. The screenshots below illustrate the following items:
a. A message will display at the top of the request record when there is a note that needs to be reviewed. Clicking “Review Notes” opens a pop-up with the note details.

b. Note details are consolidated in a single location for review, regardless of where they are configured on the Request Record.
c. Clicking “Cancel” returns the user to the request without removing the request’s review message or the “Unreviewed Note” indicator.
d. Clicking “Acknowledge Notes” returns the user to the request, removes the request’s review message, and updates the request’s icon to the “Reviewed Note” indicator.
-The review applies to all notes on the request.
-The review is tracked per library; when one staff member marks a request’s note(s) as reviewed, the “Reviewed Note” icon will display for all staff at that library.

If a new note is added or an existing note edited, the request returns to the “Unreviewed” status and the “Unreviewed Note” indicator will again display for that request until the note is acknowledged.

Public Library Survey Walkthrough - Week Four

2026-03-03T11:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Week 4 of the Public Library Survey - Show Me the Money!

Public Library Survey DUE DATE: April 30, 2026
Earworm Song of the Day: "High Hopes" by Frank Sinatra

Hello everyone! Before we move on to the finance sections, folks have asked how to go about getting their Interlibrary Loan numbers for the “Physical Circulation” part of the survey. In answer to that, I direct you to the following blog posts that David Harris put together to help you with that step (Thank you, David!):
• ILL Stats https://nhais.blogspot.com/2026/02/finding-your-ill-stats.html (posted 02/10/2026)
• Old vs. new ILL statistics reports https://nhais.blogspot.com/2025/02/old-vs-new-ill-statistics-reports.html (posted 02/24/2025)

Today we’ll be working on Revenue and Expenditures, sections 7 through 11:
Let’s start by talking about the difference between Operating and Capital funds.

-Your Operating budget includes the funds to be used for all regular and ongoing costs of operating the library such as the purchase of materials in all formats for the library collections, supplies needed to complete library work, building cleaning, and staff wages. These dollars can come from a variety of sources including local, state, and federal funds, gifts, grants, fees, and library fines.

-Your Capital budget includes the funds budgeted for one-time major expenses like new buildings, building renovations, library automation systems, computer hardware, or other one-time major projects.

Note: Some librarians are concerned about their answers in this section because they think that their revenue should be equal to their expenditures each year, but for most libraries, that is highly unlikely to be the case. For the purposes of the survey, always report revenue and expenditures in the year that they actually occur. If you had a capital expenditure that was made by your town on behalf of the library, you will report that amount under expenditures, but not under revenues since the money was never in the library budget.

As in other sections, the totals for each category are grayed out and will change as you enter your local numbers.

Section 7.0 – Revenue

In this section, you will report regular operating funds that were budgeted in library accounts for the year, regardless of the amount spent. This section is broken down by the source of the funds.

-Local Government Revenue – The total dollar amount appropriated by your city or town into the library accounts for the year in question.

-State Government Revenue – The total dollar amount received by your library directly from the state of NH into the library accounts for the year in question. Only enter amounts that were funds originating at the state level, e.g., a Moose Plate Grant.

-Federal Government Revenue – The total dollar amount of federal funds received by your library for the year in question. Include any federal dollars that were distributed to your library directly or by the state.

-Other Operating Revenue – The total dollar amount of all gifts, donations, grants, library fines, fees for services, and interest accrued in library accounts. Include the dollar amount of any donation made by the library Trustees, Friends group, or other donor, as long as the funds were placed into the library accounts. Do not include funds held by library trustees or Friends groups in their own accounts, or the value of any non-monetary gifts received from them or from any other source.

-TOTAL Operating Revenue - this line is grayed out and auto-calculated from the entries above.

-What was Your Town/City's TOTAL Municipal Appropriations Budget? – The total dollar amount appropriated for your city or town for the year in question. Include only the amount for the town. Do not include the school budget in that total.

-Has the library petitioned the town for money through a warrant article? – If you answer “Yes” to this question, a few more questions will appear for you to enter details about the warrant article.

Section 8.0 – Capital

In this section, you will report the capital funding to, and expenditures from, the library accounts for the year. You will also report any capital expenditures that were from accounts not held by the library. Those might include the cost of major building renovations paid for directly by the town. If your town made a capital expenditure on behalf of the library, you may include it in the expenditures section, but not in revenue.

-Local Government Capital Revenue – The total dollar amount appropriated by your city or town into the library accounts for the purpose of major capital expenditures. Report all funds received for the year, even if they were not expended in the same year.

-State Government Capital Revenue – The total dollar amount of state funds received in the library accounts for the purpose of major capital expenditures. Report all funds received for the year, even if they were not expended in the same year.

-Federal Government Capital Revenue – The total dollar amount of federal funds received in the library accounts for the purpose of major capital expenditures. Report all funds received for the year, even if they were not expended in the same year.

-Other Capital Revenue – The total dollar amount received in the library accounts from private, nongovernmental sources for the purpose of major capital expenditures. Include all monetary gifts and grant funds received in support of plans for capital improvements. Report all funds received for the year, even if they were not expended in the same year.

-TOTAL Capital Revenue - this line is grayed out and auto-calculated from the entries above.

-Total Capital Expenditures – The total dollar amount expended for the year in question on all capital projects for the library regardless of what accounts were used. Report all funds spent for the year regardless of which year the funds were received by the library. If the town paid for a capital expense on behalf of your library, click on the notepad and enter a note explaining what was purchased. Examples of library capital expenditures include those made for:

• Site acquisitions
• New buildings
• Additions to, or renovations of, existing library buildings
• Library automation systems
• Other one-time, major projects

9.0 – Staff Expenditures

In this section, you will report the personnel costs which are part of the operating costs of the library.

-Salaries & Wages Expenditures – The total amount of salaries and wages before any deductions for all library staff for the year, including security and maintenance staff. If you share a staff member with other town departments, please estimate the library’s share of that person’s salary based on the library’s share of that person’s hours.

-Employee Benefits Expenditures – The total amount spent for employee benefits for all positions reported above regardless of whether the same benefits are available to all staff. As was true in the salaries item, if you share a staff member with other town departments, please estimate the library’s share of that person’s benefits based on the library’s share of that person’s hours. Include amounts for:

• Social Security
• Retirement
• Medical and Dental Insurance
• Disability
• Life Insurance

-TOTAL Staff Expenditures - this line is grayed out and auto-calculated from the entries above.

10.0 – Collection Expenditures

In this section, you will report the cost of all new acquisitions purchased for the library’s collection that were paid for from library accounts and which are all part of your operating costs.

-Print Materials Expenditures – The total dollar amount spent from the library budget on books, current magazine and newspaper subscriptions, government documents, and any other print publications.

-Electronic Materials Expenditures –– The total dollar amount spent from the library budget on any materials that require a computer or other device to provide access. This is where your cost for Kanopy, Hoopla, Ancestry, Flipster, NAXOS and other online resources with go. These may include:

• eBooks
• Downloadable, or Streaming Audio
• Downloadable, or Streaming Video
• Digital Magazine Subscriptions
• Online Databases

-Other Physical Materials Expenditures – The total dollar amount spent from the library budget on physical materials you have added to the collection that are not print items, including DVDs, Audiobooks, video games, and items such as tools or games from your “library of things”.

-TOTAL Collection Expenditures - this line is grayed out and auto-calculated from the entries above.

11.0 – Operating Expenditures

Most of the operating costs have already been entered in the above sections. Here, you will report the cost of all other operating expenditures paid for from the library budget for the year.

-Other Operating Expenditures – The total dollar amount spent from the library budget on all operating costs not already reported above. These may include the cost of:

• Supplies
• Repairs to existing furniture and equipment
• Computer hardware and software
• Internet and Wi-Fi Access
• Public utility costs
• Fees paid for services such as a consultant or attorney

-TOTAL Operating Expenditures - this line is grayed out and is the sum of Total Staff Expenditures, Total Collection Expenditures, and Other Operating Expenditures.

If you don’t have revenue or expenditures in some of these categories, please respond by entering zero. Only use “Unavailable” in the unlikely event that the revenue or expenditures amounts are not known to you. In that case, please click on the notepad icon to explain.

As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me at 603-271-2060 or jennifer.m.finch@dncr.nh.gov. I’ll be back next week to finish up this tour!
- Jen

Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov

Top ILL titles for 2025

2026-02-27T09:22:00.000-05:00

We recently noted that books (regular print), DVDs, and large print were the top 3 most-requested formats in the NHAIS ILL System last year. Now let's look at the titles involved and include the 4th most-requested format: audiobook CDs. Bearing in mind that a multi-copy request for 10 copies creates 10 separate requests and that these statistics are largely driven by demand from book groups, here are the ranks for the 100 most-requested regular-print books along with the counts for requests created (but not necessarily filled) in our ILL system from January 1 to December 31, 2025:

1. The frozen river : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 1,374
2. James : a novel / Everett, Percival 1,111
3. The berry pickers : a novel / Peters, Amanda 815
4. The women / Hannah, Kristin 700
5. How to read a book : a novel / Wood, Monica 527
6. The god of the woods / Moore, Liz 464
7. Remarkably bright creatures : a novel / Van Pelt, Shelby 356
8. The lion women of Tehran / Kamali, Marjan 348
9. The wedding people : a novel / Espach, Alison 335
10. North woods : a novel / Mason, Daniel 284
11. West with giraffes : a novel / Rutledge, Lynda 280
12. Small things like these / Keegan, Claire 271
13. The measure : a novel / Erlick, Nikki 265
14. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store / McBride, James 258
15. The Thursday murder club / Osman, Richard 247
16. Tom Lake : a novel / Patchett, Ann 245
17. Horse / Brooks, Geraldine 237
18. The Briar Club : a novel / Quinn, Kate 218
19. Unlikely animals / Hartnett, Annie 209
20. Becoming Madam Secretary / Dray, Stephanie 202
21. Lady Tan's circle of women : a novel / See, Lisa 184
22. The midnight library / Haig, Matt 183
23. The ride of her life : the true story of a woman, her horse, and their last-chance journey across America / Letts, Elizabeth 181
24. The rose code : a novel / Quinn, Kate 174
25. The secret life of sunflowers / Molnár, Márta 173
26. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo : a novel / Reid, Taylor Jenkins 171
27. The lost bookshop / Woods, Evie 170
28. All the colors of the dark : a novel / Whitaker, Chris 165
29. The housemaid / McFadden, Freida 160
30. Broken country : a novel / Hall, Clare Leslie 153
31. This is happiness / Williams, Niall 146
32. Finding Margaret Fuller : a novel / Pataki, Allison 145
33. The correspondent : a novel / Evans, Virginia 145
34. Time of the child / Williams, Niall 145
35. Lessons in chemistry / Garmus, Bonnie 140
36. The art thief : a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession / Finkel, Michael 140
37. The borrowed life of Frederick Fife : a novel / Johnston, Anna 138
38. Orbital / Harvey, Samantha 137
39. The lioness of Boston : a novel / Franklin, Emily 136
40. The salt path / Winn, Raynor 136
41. Demon Copperhead : a novel / Kingsolver, Barbara 133
42. Grandma Gatewood's walk : the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail / Montgomery, Ben 123
43. Go as a river / Read, Shelley 120
44. The personal librarian / Benedict, Marie 120
45. Anxious people : a novel / Backman, Fredrik 115
46. Theo of golden : a novel / Levi, Allen 115
47. The book of lost names / Harmel, Kristin 113
48. The demon of unrest / Larson, Erik 110
49. The book club for troublesome women : a novel / Bostwick, Marie 105
50. The anxious generation : how the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness / Haidt, Jonathan 103
51. Wild dark shore / McConaghy, Charlotte 102
52. All the beauty in the world : the Metropolitan Museum of Art and me / Bringley, Patrick 101
53. How to age disgracefully / Pooley, Clare 101
54. Vera Wong's unsolicited advice for murderers / Sutanto, Jesse Q. 101
55. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine / Honeyman, Gail 100
56. The collected regrets of Clover / Brammer, Mikki 100
57. Tell me everything : a novel / Strout, Elizabeth 98
58. The let them theory / Robbins, Mel 97
59. Code name Hélène : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 96
60. The four winds / Hannah, Kristin 96
61. Hello beautiful : a novel / Napolitano, Ann 95
62. Lula Dean's little library of banned books : a novel / Miller, Kirsten 95
63. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks / Skloot, Rebecca 95
64. The silent patient / Michaelides, Alex 95
65. The reading list : a novel / Adams, Sara Nisha 94
66. Our missing hearts : a novel / Ng, Celeste 92
67. The extraordinary life of Sam Hell : a novel / Dugoni, Robert 92
68. The nightingale / Hannah, Kristin 92
69. Project Hail Mary : a novel / Weir, Andy 91
70. The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America / Larson, Erik 91
71. The island of missing trees / Shafak, Elif 91
72. Everyone in my family has killed someone / Stevenson, Benjamin 90
73. Magnolia table : a collection of recipes for gathering / Gaines, Joanna 90
74. The first ladies / Benedict, Marie 90
75. The history of sound : stories / Shattuck, Ben 89
76. The magnificent lives of Marjorie Post : a novel / Pataki, Allison 89
77. The maid / Prose, Nita 89
78. Winter garden / Hannah, Kristin 89
79. Absolution / McDermott, Alice 88
80. American dirt / Cummins, Jeanine 88
81. Mad honey : a novel / Picoult, Jodi 86
82. The keeper of happy endings / Davis, Barbara 86
83. The road to tender hearts : a novel / Hartnett, Annie 86
84. Yours truly / Jimenez, Abby 86
85. A tree grows in Brooklyn / Smith, Betty 85
86. Before we were yours : a novel / Wingate, Lisa 85
87. Parable of the sower / Butler, Octavia E. 85
88. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn / Twain, Mark 84
89. Gather / Cadow, Kenneth M. 84
90. Heartwood : a novel / Gaige, Amity 84
91. The echo of old books : a novel / Davis, Barbara 84
92. The many lives of Mama Love : memoir of lying, stealing, writing, and healing / Hardin, Lara Love 84
93. The guncle : a novel / Rowley, Steven 83
94. Crow Mary : a novel / Grissom, Kathleen 82
95. The complete autumn & winter cookbook : 550+ recipes for warming dinners, holiday roasts, seasonal desserts, breads, food gifts, and more / America's Test Kitchen 82
96. My friends : a novel / Backman, Fredrik 81
97. Pride and prejudice / Austen, Jane 81
98. Isola : a novel / Goodman, Allegra 80
99. The Christmas tree farm / Gilmore, Laurie 80
100. Sipsworth : a novel / Van Booy, Simon 78

Here are the large print titles with at least 20 ILL requests created last year:

1. The frozen river : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 192
2. Remarkably bright creatures : a novel / Van Pelt, Shelby 98
3. James : a novel / Everett, Percival 96
4. The berry pickers : a novel / Peters, Amanda 73
5. The women : a novel / Hannah, Kristin 68
6. West with giraffes : a novel / Rutledge, Lynda 57
7. The god of the woods / Moore, Liz 51
8. The Thursday murder club / Osman, Richard 50
9. How to read a book : a novel / Wood, Monica 35
10. All the light we cannot see / Doerr, Anthony 31
11. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store / McBride, James 31
12. The lion women of Tehran / Kamali, Marjan 28
13. Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet / Ford, Jamie 27
14. The kitchen front / Ryan, Jennifer 26
15. Lessons in chemistry / Garmus, Bonnie 25
16. Finding Margaret Fuller : a novel / Pataki, Allison 24
17. North woods : a novel / Mason, Daniel 23
18. The art thief : a true story of love, crime, and a dangerous obsession / Finkel, Michael 23
19. All the colors of the dark : a novel / Whitaker, Chris 22
20. The postmistress / Blake, Sarah 22
21. Plum Island / DeMille, Nelson 21
22. The wedding people a novel / Espach, Alison 21
23. Carnegie's maid / Benedict, Marie 20
24. News of the world / Jiles, Paulette 20
25. The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo / Reid, Taylor Jenkins 20

Here are the audiobook CD titles with at least 10 ILL requests last year:

1. The frozen river : a novel / Lawhon, Ariel 22
2. The berry pickers : a novel / Peters, Amanda 17
3. Remarkably bright creatures : a novel / Van Pelt, Shelby 16
4. West with giraffes : a novel / Rutledge, Lynda 13
5. Horse : a novel / Brooks, Geraldine 11
6. Demon Copperhead : a novel / Kingsolver, Barbara 10

And here are the titles on DVD for 2025 that had at least 10 ILL requests created:

1. Killers of the flower moon 23
2. Conclave 15
3. Jaws 13
4. Young Frankenstein 13
5. Greyhound 12
6. Nightmare Alley 12
7. All the president's men 11
8. NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service / The twenty-first season 11
9. The French connection 11
10. A few good men 10
11. Apollo 13 10
12. The way we were 10

A few observations...on the regular-print book list, 21st-century fiction rules, largely with works from the last 5 years. There are just two 20th-century books here: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (#85) and Parable of the Sower (#87). Representing the 19th century are Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (#88) and Pride and Prejudice (#97). There are 13 nonfiction works, of which two are cookbooks, three involve long, late-life treks (two on foot and one on horseback), and two are by Erik Larson. Other authors with two titles in the top 100: Ariel Lawhon, Kate Quinn, Annie Hartnett, Niall Williams, Allison Pataki, Marie Benedict, Fredrick Backman, and Barbara Davis. Kristin Hannah has four titles in the list.

On the DVD list, the 1970s are still with us, 50 years on. Looking at the request counts here, you might think more large print books than DVDs were requested overall last year. In fact, there were 14,135 requests created for DVDs and 8,743 for large print in 2025 but apparently the DVD requests were spread across more titles. The different seasons of TV series count as different titles but, if we combined requests for different seasons, Gilmore Girls, All Creatures Great and Small, Murdoch Mysteries, Hacks, 1923, and Professor T would join NCIS on the list of DVD titles with at least 10 requests created last year.

Remember that the counts here represent requests created but not necessarily filled. It's possible some items were requested multiple times on their way to getting filled.

No CD van Thu 2/26

2026-02-26T10:32:00.001-05:00

Due to driver illness, we needed to cancel the Capital District van route today [Thursday, Feb. 26].

The following libraries will not be receiving deliveries today:

Hopkinton
Boscawen
Canterbury
Loudon
Chichester
Epsom
Pembroke
Allenstown
Hooksett
Bow
Dunbarton

Thank you,
Jacob Kowall
Reference Librarian
New Hampshire State Library

No LR, NC, SW-A, SW-B vans Wed 2/25

2026-02-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

For various reasons, most of the ILL van routes have been cancelled for today [Wednesday, Feb. 25]. Only the libraries on the Wednesday SE route will receive deliveries. These libraries are:

Northwood
Center Strafford
Barrington
Rochester
Somersworth
Dover
Madbury
Lee
Durham
Portsmouth
New Castle
Rye
North Hampton

Thank you,
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library

Public Library Survey Walkthrough - Week Three

2026-02-24T13:04:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Week 3 of the Public Library Survey (PLS) -- Holdings, Physical Circulation, and Electronic Content Usage, OH MY!
(Earworm of the Day: "We're Off to See the Wizard")

Hello, everyone. I'm sorry that I've been indisposed for the last couple of weeks and unable to answer your questions. It was so heartwarming to open my email this morning and discover that you all have been steadily working on your surveys and submitting them in my absence. Thank you so much!

I’ll get back to those of you who sent questions ASAP.

This week we’ll be working on sections 4 through 6 of the PLS - Holdings, Physical Circulation, and Electronic Content Usage.

Section 4.0 - Holdings

4.1 - Physical Holdings

“Holdings counts” represent the number of items in your collection as of the last day of the reporting period you have chosen for your library, which is either the calendar year or the fiscal year. (Reminder from last year: the IMLS no longer wants the counts of serials holdings and instructs libraries to omit the numbers of print periodicals from all categories of Physical Holdings on the survey.)

-Print Materials – The total number of print books in your collection – both hardcover and paperback. If the number of volumes is not available, report the number of titles in your collection along with a note explaining that this is a title count.
-Audio – Physical Units – The number of physical items in your collection that are audio recordings, including music CDs, audiobooks on CD, and Playaways, as well as any other audio formats. Any items that have multiple CDs packaged and circulated together are counted as one.
-Video – Physical Units – The number of items in your collection that are video recordings in a physical format. Multiple items that are packaged and circulated together -like a full season of a TV show - should be counted as one.
-Other Circulating Physical Items – The number of other items in your collection that do not fall into the above categories but may be checked out such as garden tools, cooking pans, games, phone chargers, telescopes, etc. Any items that are packaged, and circulated together as a set, should be counted as one.
-Current Print Serial Subscriptions – The number of magazine, journal, and newspaper titles that your library subscribes to in paper. Multiple issues of the same title received under the same subscription for the year in question count as one.

4.2 - Electronic Holdings Access

In this section, IMLS wants a simple YES or NO answer as to whether your library provided access to the e-material types mentioned. The answers for the "via State" questions have been prefilled. You only need to complete the fields asking if you provided access to various e-materials locally (your Local Library) and/or through a Consortium. These questions refer to the electronic resources that you have purchased for your library, directly or through a local consortium, not through the state library. When answering, do not consider any items that are freely available on the web.

Unlike the statewide NHDB statistics, we have no knowledge of your local holdings or the digital content that is available through your consortiums. Please contact your vendor for that information. We can only provide limited guidance on these questions.

-E-Books via Local Library and E-Books via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, consider the eBooks that your library has purchased that have a circulation period and a due date. These would include Advantage titles purchased from Overdrive, Hoopla, and other platforms.
-E-Serials via Local Library and E-Serials via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, consider electronic newspapers, magazines, and similar media included in platforms like Zinio and Flipster that your library purchases directly or through a consortium.
-E-Audio via Local Library and E-Audio via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, “E-Audio” refers to digital files of sound only (e.g., audiobooks, music) that may be accessed online from an electronic device that your library has purchased that have a circulation period and a due date. These would include services such as Hoopla, Advantage titles purchased from Overdrive, and other platforms.
-E-Video via Local Library and E-Video via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium (including NHDB) – For these questions, E-videos are digital files of moving visual images with or without sound (e.g., movies, television shows) that may be accessed online from an electronic device.
-Research Databases via Local Library and Research Databases via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium – For these questions, research databases are organized collections of electronic data or records (e.g., facts, abstracts, articles, bibliographic data, texts, photographs) that can be searched to retrieve information.
-Online Learning Platforms via Local Library and Online Learning Platforms via Collective, Cooperative, or Consortium – Online learning platforms primarily provide instruction, tools, and resources to enhance education, lifelong learning, and skill building. Platforms may offer homework assistance, language learning, test preparation, professional development, resume assistance, hobby instruction, etc.

Reminder: IMLS just wants a simple YES or NO answer as to whether your library provided access to the e-material types mentioned.

Section 5.0 - Physical Circulation

-Automatic Renewal of Physical Materials (Yes/No) – This should be straightforward. If your ILS offers automatic renewal of physical materials checked out to patrons, answer YES. If your PLS does not have this feature or you do not offer this at your library, answer NO.
-Circulation of Print Materials – The total number of print materials for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals. If you allow your print magazines and newspapers to be checked out, those circulations are counted here, along with books.
-Circulation of Audio Physical Units – The total number of physical audiobooks and music for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals.
-Circulation of Video Physical Units – The total number of video items (movies, television shows) in any physical format for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals.
-Circulation of Other Physical Items – The total number of physical items that do not fall into the above categories for all age groups circulated for the year, including renewals. This would include items like video games, puzzles, telescopes, etc.
-Circulation of Children’s Physical Materials – The number of physical children’s items circulated in all formats, including renewals.
-Circulation of Young Adult Materials – The number of Young Adult items circulated in all formats, including renewals. If your library does not have a separate count for these items, select “Unavailable” and click the notepad to leave a note to that effect.
-Interlibrary Loans Provided to Other Libraries (Outgoing) – The total number of items your library sent to other libraries for their patrons to borrow. Do not include the number of items transferred from one branch to another in the same system.
-Interlibrary Loans Received from Other Libraries (Incoming) – The total number of items sent to your library from other libraries for your patrons to borrow. Do not include the number of items transferred from one branch to another in the same system.

Need a reminder of how to find your ILL figures? This blog post covers how to retrieve your interlibrary loan numbers: https://nhais.blogspot.com/2026/02/finding-your-ill-stats.html

Note: Consortium kits are counted as one unit if they are packaged together and sent together. If you own a kit and send it out to another library, that counts as one outgoing ILL. Unlike a traditional ILL, a kit is often forwarded to another library without first being returned to its home library, so the forwarding library does not count that as an ILL. The receiving library counts it as one incoming ILL.

Section 6.0 - Electronic Content Usage

This is where you enter the usage numbers for each type of local Electronic Holdings that you reported above for your library. The fields containing data about statewide databases and New Hampshire Downloadable Books (NHDB) have been pre-filled and are grayed out. You won’t be able to change them. They are the numbers reported to us by the content vendors for each participating library. If you have questions about any of the numbers you see here, please let me know. The totals for each category are also grayed out and will change as you enter your local numbers.

-Local E-Book Circulation – The combined total number of all eBook circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium, not from the State Library. If your library provides access to Hoopla, the number you will add here is the same one that was used for holdings.
-Local Downloadable Audiobook Circulation –– The combined total number of all audiobook circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium, not from the State Library. If your library provides access to Hoopla, the number you will add is the same one used for holdings.
-Local Downloadable Music Circulation – The combined total number of circulations of digital music items provided on platforms like Naxos Music and Hoopla that were purchased directly by the library or through a consortium.
-Local Downloadable Video Circulation – The combined total number of all video circulation of items that your library has purchased directly or through a consortium These include movies and TV shows that can be streamed from platforms like Hoopla and Kanopy.
-Local Electronic Magazine Circulation – These are online collections, such as periodical databases, whose items can be accessed without any due dates. Typically, these are databases with records that can be downloaded and retained by the user. Do not include any collection that is available freely on the open web.

If you don’t provide eResources in one of these categories beyond those offered through the State Library, then the usage was zero. Please enter the number zero here. Do not use “Unavailable”.

Golly, that was another long one, but we are nearing the halfway point, folks. As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me at 603-271-2060 or jennifer.m.finch@dncr.nh.gov. I’ll be back next week to lead you through the next steps of our survey. (And as before, feel free to continue this journey without me!)

Warmly,
Jen

Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library
N.H. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
20 Park St.
Concord, NH 03301
Office: 603-271-2060
Ref Desk: 603-271-2144
Jennifer.M.Finch@dncr.nh.gov

No SE-B van Tue 2/24

2026-02-24T09:36:00.000-05:00

The SE-B ILL delivery route is cancelled today [Tuesday, Feb. 24]. The following stops will not receive a delivery:

Auburn
Derry
Windham
Pelham
Londonderry
Litchfield
Hudson
Nashua
Hollis
Milford
Amherst
Merrimack
Bedford
Manchester

Thank you,
Jennifer M. Finch, MSLIS
Reference Librarian and State Data Coordinator
New Hampshire State Library