Dear Colleagues,
As Chair and Vice Chair of The Combined Regions (TCR) we have been following the discussion on interlending with great interest. Many of you will be aware that TCR's remit, together with our delivery partner OCLC Ltd, is to promote and facilitate resource discovery and resource sharing in the interests of the end user. The main way in which we do this is through the Unity UK database, which is a
de facto national catalogue, its associated workflows which assist the interlending process, and the FABLibraries database which makes the whole of the UK catalogue accessible to library users.
The availability of this national service will contribute in a tangible way to SCL's universal offers around information and digital, but unless users can obtain the material they have identified online the offers will be that much weaker.
We clearly believe therefore that interlending, nationally and internationally, is a fundamental building block of the UK library network. The ability to supply the needs of those users who have complex, specialised or unusual information requirements is a USP of our service, as other correspondents have pointed out. Without it, our offer is less compelling and many of our users are left with nowhere to turn, as there is no commercial alternative which can meet their requirements at an affordable cost.
We know only too well the budget pressures which are forcing colleagues to make unpalatable choices. We realise as well that the volume of interlending has decreased in recent years, partly no doubt as a result of digital developments. But it is also true that many public libraries are not promoting the service, or may have introduced charges aimed at full cost recovery and which place the service out of reach for many users.
