borrowIT CT: Overview

Program Description
"borrowIT CT" (formerly known as Connecticard) is a cooperative program among public libraries in Connecticut that allows a resident of any town in the state who holds a valid borrower card issued by their home library to use that card to borrow materials from any of the 192 public libraries participating in the program. Using their hometown cards, non-residents may borrow any of the materials that participating libraries lend to their local borrowers. Print materials borrowed through borrowIT CT may be returned to any borrowIT CT library for delivery by deliverIT CT (formerly known as Connecticar) to the lending library. Lending libraries may require that non-print materials be returned by the borrower directly to the lending library. Participating libraries report their borrowIT CT loans to the State Library monthly and receive a reimbursement payment each year. borrowIT CT loans do not include Interlibrary Loans and do not include loans made to borrowers who are presenting a library card from another library located within the same town.

Monthly Report - Form for reporting loans by your library.

Statistics and Payment Information - Payments, loans, borrows, net-plus, etc.

Regulations - All libraries should be familiar with these rules.

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Eligibility
All public libraries in the state of Connecticut which:

• have a signed Letter of Agreement on file with the State Library
• File a record of the number of items loaned to non-residents of the town or towns it normally serves
• Submit by November 1 of each year an Annual borrowIT CT Expenditure Report
• Complete and submit each year the Annual Report of Connecticut Public Libraries

Grant Payments
The formula for determining grant amounts is included in the state statutes. Payments are made annually. One-half of the total funds appropriated is used to reimburse participating libraries for all reported borrowIT CT loans. The other half is used to make an additional payment to those libraries that loaned more items to non-residents than their resident card holders borrowed from public libraries in other towns.

borrowIT CT grant payments MUST be spent by the library and may not revert to the general fund of the municipality. See this MEMO to Municipal Fiscal Officers (PDF) for more detail.

Key Dates

• End of February - The borrowIT CT reporting year ends.
• Mid-March - Deadline for submitting borrowIT CT lending reports for the preceding year.
• April - State Library issues a reports on of borrowIT CT loans, borrows, and payments at each public library during the previous reporting year.
• April/May - Libraries receive borrowIT CT reimbursement payments.
• November 1 - Deadline for completing borrowIT CT Expenditure Reports for the payment made approximately 18 months earlier.