White Paper: International Interlibrary Loan Anne K. Beaubien, Director of Library Document Delivery and Grants Officer, University of Michigan Library Marlayna Christensen, Outreach & Digital Projects Librarian, University of California, San Diego Libraries Jennifer Kuehn, Head, Interlibrary Services, Ohio State University Libraries David K. Larsen, Head of Access Services and Assessment, University of Chicago Library Mary Lehane, Manager, Resource Sharing Department, York University Libraries Introduction R esearch libraries have an important and longstanding role in facilitating the growth of knowledge and the sharing of information. These libraries provide resources to faculty, researchers, students, and members of the public to engage in research, education, and learning and to advance knowledge. Increasingly, collaboration among these communities of users is interdisciplinary and global. As a result, the sharing of resources occurs within the universities’ campuses and centers in the US and abroad, in formal relationships between research institutions at home and abroad such as joint or shared academic degree programs, and in agreements between libraries in the US and abroad. This white paper focuses on resource sharing activities by US research libraries. Background and Current Environment One way that research libraries strive to meet the needs of patrons is through interlibrary loan (ILL). The mission of ILL is to provide access to materials for local patrons and to lend materials to other institutions. ILL services supplement libraries’ collections by providing access to materials needed for research, RLI 275 7 JUNE 2011 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A QUARTERLY REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC