Two services at Mitchell Memorial Library are expanding patron access to materials at both local and regional libraries.

Thanks to a recently implemented partnership with West Point-based Tombigbee Regional Library System, MSU library patrons have access to materials at public libraries in 12 Northeastern Mississippi cities. Libraries in Aberdeen, Ackerman, Amory, Eupora, Hamilton, Mathiston, Nettleton, Weir, Wren, and West Point are participating. In addition to Mississippi State, Starkville High School, Armstrong Middle School and Mississippi University for Women also are participating in the collaboration, known as the Golden Triangle Library Consortium.

The libraries are connected through MSU's Data Research Associates automated system, said Stephen H. Cunetto, library system administrator.

To facilitate delivery of materials for patrons ordering from member libraries, the consortium is implementing a twice-weekly courier service among the libraries. "Materials will be delivered to member libraries on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Cunetto said.

Books may be ordered by visiting the library's Access Services department or by filling out information online at library.msstate.edu/services/forms.asp, selecting the "copy, locate and retrieve materials" option.

Through another collaboration with 14 Southeastern research libraries, MSU patrons may access more than 23 million volumes, Cunetto said. Called Kudzu, the online linkage includes libraries at Auburn, Clemson, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Virginia Commonwealth, and Wake Forest universities and the universities of Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, Louisville, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee-Knoxville.

Sponsored by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries, the system allows users to browse the participating catalogs using a single search interface and submit interlibrary loan requests directly to the source library.

"The project was created to expedite delivery service among libraries," Cunetto said. "When a patron orders through Access Services, we will order from a Kudzu library that has the materials available, even if the patron doesn't request that specifically."

There is no charge for the service, he added.

For more information, visit library.msstate.edu/circ/kudzu.asp.