Nashville Public Library proposes narrower nonresident digital access to reduce e-material wait times

Library staff presented a proposal to the board to narrow the Nashville Public Library service area for full digital lending to a defined set of nearby counties and to change how nonresident cards are handled.

Noelle (staff) explained the proposal, saying digital demand has grown substantially and that leased e-materials carry recurring costs and long hold queues. “We spend about $2,700,000 per year” on digital collections, staff said, and year-to-date digital circulation was up about 17.3 percent. The presentation noted individual title hold counts have grown—one popular ebook still had about 1,570 holds and waits up to 10 months under current leasing terms.

To curb holds and stretch the collection budget, staff proposed creating a free nonresident card type for people in a smaller, nearby service area (13 counties) while removing full digital checkout access for cardholders outside that proposed area. The proposal would preserve full digital access for a set of exclusions, including Metro employees, foundation donors, property owners or renters in Davidson County, library volunteers, foundation board members and state legislators.

Staff said implementation would be gradual to respect cards already purchased; accounts paid recently would continue until their expiration. The change also contemplates updating the ILS (catalog) account types, creating staff FAQs and macros in LibAnswers and conducting staff training to ensure consistent customer service.

The board discussed enforcement and verification: staff said address verification is available at registration and that customers who cannot verify online must appear with photo ID and proof of address. Staff acknowledged longer-term work is required to re-verify legacy unexpiring cards. No vote was taken; staff said implementation details and timelines will be developed and the board will be updated.