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Interlibrary Loan

Top ten reasons for joining LORI* (with apologies to David Letterman)

10.

You owe it to the students and teachers at your school to use the resources that their tax dollars have already paid for. Federal and state tax dollars pay for LORI resources, including access to OCLC’s FirstSearch and the OLIS ILL Clearinghouse. Using FirstSearch, you have the entire OCLC WorldCat database at your fingertips.

If your library does not have an account, you can sign up today!
9. Not even the school with the best library budget can have everything.
8. The paperwork required to join is time-consuming, but not difficult.
7. Being able to say, “the LORI driver was here today” will make you think you’re in merrie olde England. As a LORI member, your library is eligible for delivery services.
6. You get email from lots of other friendly librarians all across the state. Membership in LORI is a great way to get connected to other librarians statewide.
5.

The resources that you can offer your students and teachers expand exponentially.

How many items do you have in your collection? By joining LORI, you have access to the millions of items in the public library consortium (OSL) and Rhode Island academic libraries. If you can’t find what you need in Rhode Island, the LORI Clearinghouse at the Office of Library and Information Services will request it for you. The book that your student or teacher needs could come to you from Texas or Alaska, or ??
4. Teacher, parent and administrative support increases as your library visibility increases. You and your library become a vital link to other resources, delivered right to your door. How cool is that?
3. It feels good to share. Joining the statewide library network gives every book in your collection a better chance to find its audience.
2. All those books coming in every week with no accompanying invoices. Think of all the additional books you will see and get to preview– books of interest to your students and faculty.
1.

It’s free. There is no charge to join the statewide library network.
  * LORI is the Library of Rhode Island, our multi-type statewide library network.