Thomas Library Blog

On Friday, March 11, 2022, OhioLINK Will Pause ALL Requests Until End of Spring Semester. 

Because of ongoing delivery issues, Thomas Library, along with the other OhioLINK member institutions and SearchOhio member public libraries, will be switching back to Priority Dispatch as our delivery services provider.  

What this means for you: 

• Starting March 11 and through the end of spring term, you will not be able to request material through the OhioLINK Central Catalog, OPAL, or SearchOhio. 
• Between now and March 10, please request items as early as possible and anticipate delays.  

Other options for obtaining materials not held by Thomas Library: 

• After March 10, you may request books normally available through OhioLINK and SearchOhio through inter-library loan (ILL) at https://www.wittenberg.edu/lib/ill 
• Please note ILL requests may take up to 2 weeks to arrive. 
• We are unable to fulfill requests for media (CDs, DVDs, etc.) through ILL.
• If you are able to travel, you can go to other OhioLINK and SearchOhio libraries and check out materials using your Wittenberg ID. Please call first to ensure the other library is open to visitors. 

We understand this timing is challenging for our community. We just learned of this decision a few days ago. This decision was made by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services (DAS), the State Library of Ohio, and OhioLINK. 

Access to databases and online resources are unaffected by this change.

If you have questions or concerns Wittenberg library faculty would be happy to discuss your needs and help you look for alternate formats and materials. Please email us at librarians@wittenberg.edu,Êor use our online chat box on the libraryÕs website.Ê

Priority Dispatch, the company who delivered for OhioLINK prior to July 2021, will start delivering for OhioLINK once again beginning April 18^th, 2022. OhioLINK is confident Priority Dispatch will be able to deliver your library materials efficiently once again.  We hope that OhioLINK, OPAL, and SearchOHIO materials will be available for request starting again sometime in May. 

For more information, please see the FAQ from the OhioLINK website: https://www.ohiolink.edu/press/print_lending_frequently_asked_questions  

Announcing major changes to Thomas Library circulation policies! We will no longer be collecting fees for most overdue items and most items will automatically be renewed.  

The library will not be assessing late fees for most OhioLINK, Wittenberg owned, and Interlibrary Loan items. If your item is not eligible for renewal and is overdue, you will be billed for the replacement of the item if it isnÕt returned. If you have the item, simply return it and the replacement fees will be removed from your account. SearchOhio requires us to collect late fees, so please be careful to renew and return these items on time. 

Eligible library materials are now being automatically renewed by the system. You will receive an email with a new due date if your items are automatically renewed. Most OhioLINK and Wittenberg materials are eligible for 6 renewals. SearchOhio and Interlibrary Loan items are not eligible for autorenewal. 

For more details on our circulation policies, please visit: https://wittenberg.libguides.com/circulationpolicy

For more information from the American Library Association about the rationale behind eliminating fines, see their ÒResolution on Monetary Library Fines as a Form of Social InequityÓ: http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/Resolution%20on%20Monetary%20Library%20Fines%20as%20a%20Form%20of%20Social%20Inequity-FINAL.pdfÊ