Westlake Porter Public Library' EXPRESS collection, is a selection of fiction and non-fiction bestsellers available for immediate loan.

"As an additional service, EXPRESS will increase our customers' access to the most current bestsellers," said Jackie Duffy, the library's Assistant Director. "Because bestsellers don't hit the shelves until all of the hold requests are filled, often browsing customers often don't even know we have them. Now they will - and will be able to check them out immediately."

The EXPRESS collection will be independent from the library's regular materials. It will be shelved separately and distinctively labeled. The loan period for EXPRESS books is 7 days expressly - not the normal 3 week loan period. The purpose of the EXPRESS collection is to allow frequent visitors and fast readers quick access to the most recent, most popular titles.

Unlike the library's regular collection, there are no renewals and no holds so that availability will improve for many patrons.

"The EXPRESS service is a bonus for our customers," said Duffy. "If someone has a hold on a book, and they find it in the EXPRESS collection, they're more than welcome to check it out." Duffy suggests that customers finding themselves in that position should cancel their hold request so that the "on hold" copy can go immediately to the next person.

The library will maintain its normal policy of adding multiple copies of bestsellers to its regular collection to keep waiting lists to a minimum.

New EXPRESS books will be ordered on an ongoing basis, while older titles will be rotated out of the collection as usage and physical condition of the books decline.