Benefits of SHARES Participation

Collegiality, trust, mentoring, sharing expertise, and going the extra mile.

SHARES partners enjoy a special camaraderie and can be counted on to share expertise as well as library material. They tend to go the extra mile for SHARES partners.

"The sharing of expertise of among the SHARES community has also been a personal and institutional benefit."
—Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

"The one thing I will add is how much we value the collegiality that exists among all of the SHARES members. This underlies all of the other things we value, of course, but it's also something that we value above and beyond the operational issues and support that we receive from our SHARES partners."
—Yale University

"When I first began working at Princeton and attended my first SHARES meeting, I felt instantly welcomed and part of a very special group. Over the years I've developed close working relationships with many of my SHARES colleagues, far more so than with colleagues outside of SHARES either while I've been at Princeton or in my previous positions. This benefits all patrons of SHARES libraries. I'm able to call or e-mail a colleague and more likely receive a favorable response due to these relationships. I'm also more likely to help my SHARES colleagues."
—Princeton University

"We at MZA also feel strongly that SHARES is an extremely valuable resource for interlibrary lending. There is an inherent sense of trust with these libraries not only that they will take care of our materials, but also that they will send us what we need whenever possible, even if it is old or rare."
—Metropolitan Museum of Art

"Our SHARES colleagues are often more willing to put themselves out to investigate inaccurate references."
—University of Edinburgh

"The partnership helps to identify resources, facilitates collaboration and investigates service improvements in access and delivery to collections. SHARES, which includes libraries of many types and sizes as well as historical and cultural heritage institutions, plays an important role in helping us all provide outstanding service for the ongoing and future needs of our students, researchers and scholars."
—Binghamton University

Share Special Collections

The SHARES Sharing Special Collections Working Group has the tools you need to sensibly borrow and lend special collections materials.

Learn More

Policy Rethink

In 2018 and 2019, the SHARES Executive Group engaged with all SHARES participants in rethinking SHARES policies and values.

Learn More

SHARES Project Team

SHARES is managed by the SHARES Executive Group

SHARES OCLC Lead

Dennis Massie

Contact Us

Please use this form for all your SHARES questions, including inquiring about SHARES, reaching out to a SHARES admin, updating contact details, seeking guidance from an ILL expert, or requesting to be paired with a SHARES buddy.

Ask SHARES