This presentation will discuss two ongoing initiatives in the University Libraries’ Interlibrary Services department, both of which serve to strengthen relationships with NC public libraries. The first aims to increase access to the University Libraries’ collections, while the second focuses on our students’ access to the public library and pleasure reading.
Last spring we conducted a survey of N.C. public library staff that focused on identifying needs and barriers related to resource sharing. The goal was to inform how we may better support N.C. public libraries and their patrons, especially in rural communities. We’ll share some characteristics of our current lending profile, survey results, and the project’s next steps to begin addressing some of the barriers to access to our collections. Last fall, in collaboration with the Overdrive/Libby group, we piloted a “Books for Break” event. We invited Chapel Hill Public Library staff to campus for the event, which served as a CHPL library card drive, along with the opportunity to share information about the public library and its’ resources. And of course, there were fun giveaways and swag! We also shared various resources to locate the public library and all it has to offer. We will share qualitative and quantitative feedback received from this event, as well as plans for the upcoming spring 2025 event.
About the Presenters Renée Bosman is the Head of Interlibrary Services at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's University Libraries. She manages a team of five staff members that are responsible for local, national, and international resource sharing, serving nine campus libraries. Renée is actively involved in local consortia, serving on the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) Resource Sharing Working Group and the UNC System University Library Advisory Council (ULAC) Resource Sharing Committee. She is also involved with Project ReShare, an open-source approach to resource sharing systems, serving on the ReShare Product Team.
Ashley (Ash) Radtke is the Interlibrary Services Graduate Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's University Libraries (UNC-CH). Ash's primary projects relate to the betterment of Interlibrary Loan (ILL) between UNC-CH and North Carolina public libraries, specifically with rural public libraries in mind. She also created and implemented UNC-CH's "Books for Break" event, a partnership with Chapel Hill Public Library. Ash is a member of LAUNC-CH and NCLA, and is in the final semester of her MSLS program at UNC-CH.
