After decades of operation, the Florida Library Delivery Service has shut down — and with it ends a long-lasting network between Florida libraries.
Alachua County discontinued its Interlibrary Loan service Sept. 30, the library district announced to cardholders via email. The program allowed patrons to check out books and other materials from libraries outside of their residential district.
“We are looking for alternative avenues to be able to meet our patrons’ needs,” the email said. “We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused by this loss of federal funding.”
The change follows an executive order President Donald Trump issued in March, which directed the Institute of Museum and Library Services, along with six other government entities, be dismantled. The executive order outlined its goal to reduce “elements of the federal bureaucracy that the president has determined are unnecessary.” The institute is the only federal entity dedicated to funding library services nationwide.
As a result, Florida's Division of Library and Information Services now lacks the federal funding necessary to deliver books between library districts, Alachua County clarified on its website. Federal dollars make up about two-thirds of Florida’s State Library and Statewide Resource Sharing Program budget, coming in at about $1.5 million for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year.
With the delivery service underpinning the canceled interlibrary loans, libraries across the state must find alternative shipping and funding options to continue offering the service, and many of them, including Alachua’s, have suspended loans.
The change is troubling, said William Furlong, manager of UF’s Architecture & Fine Arts Library.
“No library can have every resource,” he said. “The fact that so many libraries nationwide were willing to share their collections with each other really speaks to the mission of libraries to share information.”
Furlong, who worked for the Alachua County Library District for eight years, said the loan service helped the community stay informed.
The Alachua County Library District ranked eighth among Florida libraries and systems for the number of packages sent through the loan service for the first three quarters of this fiscal year, according to the state. The district received over 2,000 interlibrary packages between October 2024 and June 2025.
The library district may struggle to fill gaps in its collection without access to these outside materials, Furlong said. Rather than criticizing the library district, he hopes people focus on the federal budget cuts causing the change.
“It’s not always easy to put the cause and effect together,” Furlong said. “It's really important when something like this happens to ask the questions: Why is this happening? Where did it come from?”
Charlotte Bourg, public services division director of the Alachua County Library District, said the change is not just the result of a loss of money, but rather the loss of an interconnected library network.
That loss is what pushed library districts throughout the state to suspend their library loan services, she said. Other library districts, like that of Pasco and Citrus counties, also discontinued the service in September.
Despite losing its loan delivery service, the Alachua County Library District remains committed to its goal, Bourg said.
“We are dedicated to helping provide information for our patrons to meet their needs,” she said. “Whatever we have to do.”
She encouraged library patrons to request resources the library doesn’t have, so the library might buy and add them to its collection.
But Interlibrary Loan Service users continue to worry about the implications this loss will have on the community. Tracy Qu, a 21-year-old UF public health senior, said her concern lies with underprivileged Floridians.
UF campus libraries still have Interlibrary Loan Services, and the system estimates it will send about 2,500 packages this fiscal year. Qu acknowledged her own privilege in having access to these services, noting many community members without ties to the university no longer share that access.
“This will largely impact communities that have lower incomes and therefore less resources,” she said.
The loss of the service “closes the door to information” Alachua residents could once access freely, she said.
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace is a first year journalism student, serving as city/county commission reporter for the Fall 2025 semester. While she has not previously been on staff, her early journalism experience can be attributed to Devil's Advocate, her high school newspaper. When she is not writing, Grace enjoys staying active by running, weight lifting, hiking and doing yoga. Her other pastimes include thrifting and working on random art projects.
