Dear Summit Free Public Library patrons and community members,
I am pleased to announce that the Summit Free Public Library Board of Trustees has unanimously voted to join the Main Library Alliance (MLA), with our membership scheduled to begin in mid-June 2026. Main Library Alliance is a nonprofit network of over 60 public libraries that provides delivery, technology, and other services to library users across Union, Morris, Essex, Hunterdon, Somerset, and Warren counties.
Since our inception, the Summit Free Public Library has operated as a stand-alone library. This has meant that in order to provide you with a book, it needed to be physically housed in our building. Today, however, technology allows libraries to share materials, expanding access for patrons. When we join MLA, Summit cardholders will have access to more than 3.1 million items across the consortium. If a book is not available in Summit, you will be able to place a hold online and have it delivered to our Library for pickup.
Unlike traditional Interlibrary Loan (ILL), which can take several weeks, requests within MLA typically arrive within a few days. This expanded access not only increases the breadth of materials available to you but also reduces wait times. If a title is checked out in Summit, we can request the next available copy from another member library. Summit residents will also be able to use their Summit library card in person at any MLA member library.
By sharing resources, delivery, technology infrastructure, and digital content, we leverage our collective purchasing power to lower costs and maximize the value of public funding while maintaining the local service and community focus that define the Summit Free Public Library.
We will continue to share updates as we prepare for this transition in mid-June 2026. In the coming weeks, we will also provide an FAQ web page. Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We are excited about this next chapter and the expanded opportunities it will bring you!
As always, if there is anything that we at the Library can do to better meet your needs, please feel free to contact me at abs@summitlibrary.org or (908) 277-9455.
Sincerely,
Amy Behr-Shields
Library Director