interlibrary lending

Interlibrary lending is a cooperative service that allows libraries to share resources. This practice emerged from the realization that no single library could possess all the materials its patrons might need. Early forms involved readers using union catalogs to find books in other libraries.1

Formal organizations, like the Central Library for Students founded in London in 1916, played a key role in facilitating these loans. This evolved into the National Central Library, which coordinated a network of regional library bureaus that built union catalogs to aid interlibrary lending. Today, the British Library Lending Division handles a significant portion of interlibrary lending both domestically and internationally. This cooperation also extends to the acquisition and storage of materials, helping libraries manage their collections and acquire items that might otherwise be difficult to obtain.12