Policy
The Multnomah County Library provides an interlibrary delivery service that facilitates the movement of materials throughout the library system. It is managed by the Logistics Supervisor.
Rationale
A standardized method of moving library materials is efficient and cost effective. Materials are moved in color-coded crates.
Crate Colors
Crate colors have these meanings:
- Black for outgoing discards or donations (Friends of the Library)
- Gray and Red for location returns and interoffice mail
- Yellow and Blue crates for incoming or outgoing holds
Bag Colors
- Orange for ILL materials
- Green for periodicals
- Blue for Supplies and Books by Mail
Agency Codes
Each library in our system has an agency code that identifies it. These codes are printed on streamers and are used to indicate the destination of the material.
Code: Agency name
ALB: Albina ** Temporarily closed
BHP: (Belmont) Hawthorne Holds Pick-up
BMT: Belmont ** Closed for renovation
CAP: Capitol Hill
CEN: Central
FRV: Fairview-Columbia
GRG: Gregory Heights
GSM: Gresham
HDL: Hillsdale
HGT: Holgate
HWD: Hollywood
ISM: Isom Operations Center ** CLOSED - see MAC or OPS
KEN: Kenton Closing for refresh Feb 2025, re-opens summer 2025
LOS: Library Outreach Service
MAC: Macadam Bldg
MID: Midland
MUO: Multnomah County Library at the University of Oregon, Northeast - permanently closed Oct 2024
NRW: Northwest
NPO: North Portland
OPS: Library Operations Center
PTG: Pettygrove ** closed for renovation
ROC: Rockwood
SEL: Sellwood-Moreland
MAIL: Mail desk
STJ: St. Johns ** Closed for renovation
TRT: Troutdale
WOD: Woodstock
Procedures
Packing
- Pack materials spine to spine as much as possible in the crates.
- Do not pack a crate above the handle spaces so it can be picked up safely and so another crate can be stacked above it.
Regular returns
- Location returns or all agency returns are packed in gray or red crates.
- Unlabeled gray crates are assumed to be mix returns.
Holds
- All holds are packed into BLUE or YELLOW crates.
- An unlabeled Blue or yellow crate is assumed to be mixed holds.
- Sort only for branches where that can quickly fill a crate--these crates must be labeled with a streamer indicating the destination library.
Using Streamers on Crates
- Staples cause injuries. Do not use them.
- Tape streamers to the crates to indicate their destination when the label is necessary:
- If you need to use a crate color other than the standard color for your purpose. For example, using a red crate for MIX holds.
- If you have a crate full of materials that does not need to be sorted. For example, a crate of returns for a neighboring branch.
- If the destination of the crate is not the sort center, such as using a crate to ship supplies from one location to another.
- White streamers are for returns and yellow streamers are for holds.
Friends of the Library materials
Donations for The Friends of the Library should be packed in a black crate and labeled with a bright green FOL streamer
Discards
Refer to the Discards policy in the Circulation Manual. Once properly withdrawn, discarded materials should be packed in a black crate and labeled with a bright pink Title Wave streamer.
Getting supplies
Order crate streamers from the Circulation section of the Labels online order form.
Interoffice mail
- Place all interoffice mail material in the brown interoffice mail accordion pouch (the one with "Interoffice Mail Return to Sort Center" written on it).
- Put the interoffice mail pouch, along with all other addressed mail pouches in the designated interoffice mail space for your location.
- Any items not routed to a different library location should go through interoffice mail. For example: Items going to an Macadam workgroup such as Technical Services or ECI; Books by Mail bags; etc.
- All incoming interoffice mail will be delivered with incoming delivery each day. Incoming mail will be found in the top crate of an incoming stack of crates, usually in a stack of Holds (yellow) crates.
See the Current delivery schedule
To request special delivery service, e.g. furniture moving, a large number of donations, etc., call the Logistics Supervisor at 503-969-5356 or email lib-facilities@multco.us.
Broken crates can be recycled by sending them through outgoing delivery to 317/MAC/broken crate.