The designated lead contact for TALC is currently Chris Demas. Please direct inquiries about the TALC program her way.
Any public or private non-profit, post-secondary, academic library in Tennessee that wishes to participate in the Tennessee Academic Library Cooperative (TALC) program may do so by providing written notice to the current TBR Library Deans/Directors Chair (or their designee). The current chair (2021) is Chris Demas; their designee is Chris Demas.
TALC members must (a) have their own libraries and, as such, (b) be able to offer reciprocal borrowing and be open for in-person library use by TALC patrons. TALC membership requires that the participating library is located within the State of Tennessee.
Institutions who wish to withdraw their participation from the TALC program may terminate their agreement by providing six (6) months' written notice to the current TBR Library Deans/Directors chair (or their designee).
Please note that there are zero (0) fees or charges related to joining or leaving TALC as a participant. All participation is voluntary.
The TBR Library Deans/Directors' Chair or their designee will convene a once-annual meeting of representatives from participating libraries to review satisfaction with the TALC partnership and to address any operational concerns. Meeting business may be conducted by email or another forum. During this meeting, participating institutions will affirm their continued participation in TALC and will provide their annual TALC usage statistics. This information will be recorded in formal meeting minutes that will then be posted to https://tbr.libguides.com/librarydeansdirectors or the website that supersedes it.
A form will be sent to TALC members to collect annual statistics for the period between July 1, YEAR and June 30, YEAR.
Statistics to be collected:
• Total # of TALC borrowers with active patron records
• Total # of items borrowed by TALC users at your library
• Breakdown of TALC users by their home institution
• Open area for entry of additional information
Financials to be collected:
• Total # of items billed
• List of outstanding reimbursement obligations per institution
Conversations will be held at the “annual meeting” if there are significant issues to be addressed with borrower behaviors or institutional reimbursements.
Currently enrolled students and currently employed full-time and part-time faculty and staff from the participating institutions will be given borrowing privileges per the local policies of the participating libraries. Students, faculty, and staff should be in good standing with their home institution’s library and must abide by the lending library’s policies.
The lending institution will determine a borrower's TALC eligibility by:
The lending institution may verify if the borrower is in good standing with their home institution if they so choose. The lending institution has final authority to issue or deny borrowing privileges.
Each institution will choose their own method of keeping track of how many TALC users that they serve. Participating institutions will provide their annual TALC usage statistics to the TBR Library Deans/Directors' annual meeting of representatives from participating libraries to discuss the TALC program.
TALC borrowing privileges are established by the lending library. Each library reserves the right to establish its own rules governing the use of materials and services.
Faculty and staff members are not entitled to special privileges or extended loan periods at other institutions. Loan periods will be established by the lending institution.
Lending libraries may revoke TALC borrowing privileges for users who do not return materials on time or who accrue unpaid library fines or charges.
Borrowers must be able to prove to the lending library that they are currently enrolled or currently employed by a participating TALC institution by logging into their campus portal in the presence of a lending library staff member so that they may confirm status (e.g. by showing schedules).
Borrowers must also show their campus ID or a government-issued picture ID, such as a driver’s license, to a lending library staff member to confirm identity.
Borrowers must take full responsibility for items borrowed. These responsibilities include returning the items within the loan period granted and payment of any replacement fees for overdue, lost, or damaged materials as well as any other fees incurred, as determined by the lending institution.
Borrowers are subject to the rules and regulations of the lending library and are responsible for learning and observing these rules.
Borrowers are responsible for supplying current contact information to the lending library, such as mailing addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers.
TALC borrowers will be assessed the fines, replacement costs, processing fees, and damage/binding charges established by the lending library.
Lending libraries will provide timely notifications of overdue and lost materials directly to borrowers. The number and timing of notifications will be established by each lending library according to local practice.
Lending libraries will bill the home institutions of borrowers who have lost materials, failed to return materials to the lending library within the loan period, or returned damaged materials on an annual basis. Itemized invoices will include the name and identification number of the borrower, the item replacement costs, processing or administrative fees, and any damage charges.
Home libraries that are invoiced for lost or damaged items may block or bill patrons according to their established policies, but they are responsible for reimbursing lending libraries regardless of whether they are successful at collecting from their patrons.
Requests for refunds for lost and paid items will be handled according to the established policy of the lending library.
Tennessee's public and private non-profit, post-secondary, academic libraries will work collaboratively to increase access to library information, materials, and expertise in ways that are appropriate to meet the present and future information needs of their collective clientele while striving to reduce the rate of increase of costs.
The Tennessee Academic Library Collaborative creates partnerships among Tennessee's non-profit, post-secondary, academic libraries and works collaboratively with other groups and organizations to provide leadership to various library sectors in the state and region. TALC leads, creates, and delivers programs and projects designed to increase and improve access to library services and resources for participating users' institutions. TALC strives to combat rising costs for library materials and resources through group-based strategies.
A TALC Steering Committee was convened in Spring 2019 to ensure that TALC policy and procedural decisions are made through a fair process that included representation from the different types of member libraries involved in TALC.
To be eligible for TALC you must be a currently enrolled student or be employed (full or part time) at a participating institution.
You must be able to log in to your campus portal to show that you are enrolled in course(s) for the current semester or that you are employed at the institution.
You will also be asked to show home campus ID. If you do not have a home campus ID, you may be asked to present a driver's license or other government-issued photo ID.
Borrowing privileges from a participating TALC library require that the borrower accept full responsibility for the items borrowed. As a TALC borrower, you agree to follow all rules and guidelines established by the lending library. Borrower responsibilities include returning materials in time and paying replacement cost of materials and fees, if charged by the lending library.