History

In 2000, Joanne Halgren, Head of Interlibrary Loan at the University of Oregon Libraries at the time, established the Northwest Interlibrary Loan (NWILL) and Resource Sharing Conference Planning Committee. Mrs. Halgren, along with other members of the Pacific Northwest library community, were responding to a regional interest and demand for ILL-specific professional development opportunities that coupled timely, relevant presentations and workshops with an affordable and accessible venue.

Since the first conference in 2002, NWILL has been a resounding success. It is held annually and has an average attendance of 150 from all over North America. Program content ranges from practical, how-to sessions to philosophical discussions on the future of interlibrary loan and resource sharing. Pre-conference workshops are generally provided, and feedback is gathered from post-conference surveys and incorporated into the following year’s programming.

In 2020, the conference transitioned from an in-person to virtual event due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite our ability to meet face-to-face, the NWILL Conference Planning Committee saw a need to continue offering professional development and contribution opportunities for the resource sharing community. The first two virtual conferences drew nearly 500 registered attendees, including some ILL practitioners from outside North America. For now, the Committee continues to offer workshops, and socials in virtual format, each year building on lessons learned and feedback from attendees, and we will resume an in-person or hybrid conference when it is practical and safe to do so.

Over the past two decades, NWILL has come to serve an important role in the Pacific Northwest library community and beyond. It is the Conference Planning Committee’s expectation to continue offering quality development, training, and networking opportunities for practitioners in the PNW and around the world.

Many attendees share takeaways from their experience at the Northwest Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing Conference. Here are just a few…

"This is a great conference to get new ideas and meet some pretty wonderful people who are as passionate about Resource Sharing as you are. I look forward to coming every year."

"This is a great event to learn and meet others. The perfect place to ask that 'silly question' and find out that that question isn't so silly!"

"Whether it's your first year in ILL or you are a seasoned ILL staff member this conference will have something for you. The sessions are always engaging and a great way to meet up with your colleagues."

"Not just logistics. I was pleasantly surprised by the broad range of topics, from custom apps to front line desk service. Useful information that we can put to use in actual daily library work."

"The varied format, with small group and large group sessions, is very effective. Participants have many opportunities to engage in discussions with other attendees, during sessions or after sessions."

"It's very useful, and I'd highly recommend attending. I've been going since my first year working in ILL, and I get many useful ideas every time I go. NWILL keeps innovating and I look forward to it each year."

“This conference was really well run and well developed. The speakers brought together a wide variety of topics and many were generic enough to be relevant to small academics, large academics and publics. Looking forward to it in the future.”

“Well organized. Efficient, topical.”

“Good lecture topics. Good venue. Good food.”

“I like this conference as it is very practical and small enough to allow interesting networking.”

“Great work. I appreciated the wide range of topics and found many of them very timely. I particularly appreciate panelists who talk about specific solutions or actions they've taken in response to a problem.”

“It was absolutely fascinating to hear how other types of institutions operated and what challenges they were facing.”

“I feel like it was a slam dunk. A slam dunk executed with a ball in a shape you've never seen, no shoes, a 9-foot COVID defender trying to stuff you, and the pressure of successful preceding NWILLs. A big ten-gallon-hat's off to the planning committee.” (Feedback from the first virtual NWILL in 2020)