DOWAGIAC — With thousands of books, movies and audio recordings between the two county libraries, patrons of the Dowagiac District Library and Cass District Library do not want for quality material to read, view or listen to.

The number of items that local library card holders can get their hands stretches far beyond the walls of the Dowagiac and Cassopolis libraries, however.

Dowagiac District Library Director Matt Weston and Cass District Library Director Jennifer Ray shared how library patrons can access literature and other materials from libraries across the entire state of Michigan — anywhere, any time — through the Michigan eLibrary Catalog during their presentation to the Dowagiac Rotary Club Thursday.

The two Rotarians’ talk was spurred during Weston’s presentation on the proposed expansion of the Dowagiac library several weeks ago, during which one of the other members of the club asked, “I didn’t even think people used libraries anymore,” Ray recalled Thursday.

The MeLCat system is one such way that modern patrons use their local libraries, the two librarians said. The catalog, which is accessed online at mel.org, allows any library card holder to check out items that their home location does not currently have in its catalog.

“You get access to every other Michigan library’s — and most Michigan university’s — collections,” Weston said.

After visiting the website and verifying their name and library card number, people may search for books, audio or films, based on title, author or subject. Whatever materials they wish to borrow they can request to be shipped to their home library.

Once or more a week, vans arrive at the local libraries to deliver requested materials and to pick up items others have asked for in other libraries.

Customers who request items through MeLCat can expect to get their hands on whatever items they requested fairly quickly. “It used to be pretty standards to be two weeks to get something,” Weston said. “Now it only takes a few days.”

“Sometimes you feel like you just helped the patron get it, and it’s there,” Ray added.

Patrons who receive materials through MeLCat are typically allowed to borrow them for three or more weeks, and may borrow up to 50 items at once — several patrons at the Dowagiac District Library come close to that limit on a regular basis, especially those who use the service for music albums, Weston said.

The MeLCat system increases the value of the two institutions dramatically, with a large portion of patrons taking advantage of the catalog, the librarians said.

For instance, last year, Cass District Library patrons requested more than 13,000 items through MeLCat. The library also loaned out more than 12,000 of its materials to other libraries in Michigan, Ray said.