AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas Libraries have received funding from the Tocker Foundation for the work of the InterLibrary Services (ILS) unit, which supports some of the Libraries’ most heavily trafficked services.
ILS provides UT faculty, students and staff the opportunity to borrow materials that are not available at the university from other libraries, and facilitates the loan and sharing of UT Libraries collections with other libraries worldwide. The University of Texas Libraries is one of the most active lending libraries in the world, having been ranked as the top lender by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) for the past two years.
The services provided by ILS to libraries statewide are also a substantial, if unrecognized benefit to citizens of Texas. Any patron with a Texas public library card can request books or scanned articles and chapters free of charge from the UT Libraries collections.
The Tocker Foundation gift of $60,000 will allow ILS to purchase technology to improve efficiencies and outcomes in the replication and preservation of materials. ILS will purchase a new overhead book scanner that will increase the speed and care with which materials are processed, and provide upgrades to scanners at branch libraries that support lending services.
“We’re grateful to the Tocker Foundation for their generous gift in recognition of the value of our InterLibrary Services to research at the university and as a benefit to the public at large,” says Vice Provost and Director of the Libraries Lorraine Haricombe. “Support for core services is more important than ever, and we appreciate the Foundation’s help to maintain the UT Libraries’ status as a global leader in providing access to its rich resources through ILS.”
The University of Texas Libraries InterLibrary Services at a glance:
- Ranked #1 lender in the world of physical and digital materials in 2015 and 2016
- Provided 42 scans and 453 book loans to Texas public libraries*
- Provided 742 loans and articles to State of Texas agencies*
- Received 35,391 requests from other public, academic and corporate libraries worldwide*
