SHARES Program

Objective: A membership-wide program of expedited, cost-saving interlibrary lending that also develops innovative new methods to improve collections sharing.

Overview: SHARES is one of RLG's oldest collaborative efforts. Operating for over 20 years, the program enables participating institutions to agree on prices, procedures, and policies; monitor their own performance; and manage work flow to support increased lending activities. In addition, this program gives each participant's faculty, students, and staff on-site access to collections and services at the other SHARES institutions. This international sharing partnership—together with technology supplied by RLG—expands and enhances local collections with materials owned by partners around the world.

SHARES is managed by the SHARES Executive Group and the SHARES ILL Practitioners Council. RLG Programs partnership is a prerequisite to joining SHARES.