Visiting the Library

I have just read Peter's latest newsletter re 'What our library's have to offer'. Some years ago I visited Wakefield Record office. Quite a distance from Cumbria. On arrival I was told there weren't enough staff to man it that day so I couldn't use the facilities. They suggested trying the nearby library which I did. Luck was on my side as several of the parishes records I wanted to research were in book form or on micro fiche. An added bonus were the local newspapers searches I could do. I joined that library and over the years they have sent me requested books to my local library who return them to Wakefield when I have finished wit them. Has anyone else tried this form of distance research?

 

I have several on line friends in libraries and archives in the UK and they all spent their lockdowns looking at how they could make their holdings more accessible without visiting, and also encouraging borrowing once that is possible again . They are also encouraging anyone who does borrow from their holdings to send them a brief note of what they've found because most catalogue descriptions are quite vague.
University libraries in Canada often offer a quite reasonable subscription for a library card , and my local university archive will soon be able to request an inter-archive loan of some newspapers in another university's collection. I'll be able to visit and look at them, under the archivist's supervision.