Courtney Taulbee, Head of UK Libraries' Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery services, has recently been named as the Visiting Program Officer for Expanded Resource Sharing by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL). She will begin her one-year tenure in early September while maintaining her role at UK Libraries.
As Visiting Program Officer, Taulbee will lead initiatives to expand and improve resource sharing capacities among the 38-member consortium.
“Through collaboration, we seek to collectively develop our resource sharing practices as conditions continue to change and evolve,” said Taulbee. “This may involve refining best practices, honing our workflow procedures, and examining our use of technologies. Most of all we hope to improve and promote the broad accessibility of materials for our own users and the users of all member libraries.”
Taulbee began working for UK Libraries in 2007 and has served in her current role since 2014. She has brought her significant subject matter expertise to several collaborative professional groups across the field, including leadership of the ELUNA RapidILL Working Group and membership in the Reference and User Services Association’s Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (RUSA-STARS) division of the American Library Association.
“Courtney’s appointment with ASERL is a demonstration of her leadership in resource sharing not only at UK but throughout the profession,” said Ben Rawlins, UK Libraries Associate Dean for Outreach, Engagement & Collections. “Her extensive experience, knowledge, and collaborative nature will serve her well in this role as ASERL looks to enhance and expand resource sharing. I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead this important initiative.”
“Libraries work together to meet the information needs of our patrons by collaborating locally, regionally, and globally,” said Taulbee. “By improving our resource sharing capacities, we hope to provide a service that increases access to materials for all of our users.”
ASERL members currently abide by the Kudzu expedited resource sharing agreement, which ensures no-fee, priority service to member libraries’ interlibrary lending requests. Established in 2001, the framework stipulates that member libraries begin processing all lending requests within 24 hours of receipt. In 2013, ASERL partnered with the Washington Research Library Consortium to further expand resource sharing between members of each consortium.
These agreements connect more than 300,000 students and faculty to more than 30 million volumes. Most documents can be delivered to users within a few days, and in some cases a few hours.
Requests between member libraries typically amount to around 150,000 total borrows per year, and include the sharing of both physical materials and scanned copies.
“Courtney brings both practical knowledge and a spirit of curiosity that will help ASERL excel in guiding new program exploration and development,” said John Burger, Executive Director of ASERL, in a press release. “I am looking forward to seeing what develops from this exploration.”
Founded in 1956, ASERL is one of the largest regional research library consortia in the United States, serving 38 institutional members in 12 states. ASERL is housed in the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
