Archie,
Has anyone ever considered a Members Distributive Library System?
What that is, the member who last has the book keeps it until the next member request it. He then forwards it on to that member. And so on. . . The librarian only keeps track of who has it. All those on the Net can easily pass the info along. A member by accepting a book accepts responsibility for the book until it reaches the next member. In the case of a hot item, this speeds up the distribution process tremendously, and more important eases the burden of the librarian.
You will find that the library circulates more because the member who has it wants to pass it on to another member to get out of the responsibility.