Concept to Concrete: Building a local Interlibrary Loan special interest 

group in a metropolitan area

Friday, May 1, 2015

Colorado ILL Conference

Presented by: Jan Brooks, Johnson College Community College

Ellie Kohler, Rockhurst University Kari Sime, Johnson County Library

Why a SIG?

Meet Jen

So why a SIG? For the group!

• Collaboration

• Sharing

• Best practices

• Leadership opportunities

Ok, the real reason: It’s personal

How we did it… with no budget

Technology

• Online meetings

• Online documentation

• Email

• Blog

MALA: Mid American Library Assn

• Email address

• Facebook posts

• Newsletter

• “Featured” on Website 

malaillsig@mid-americalibraryalliance.org 

Getting the Word Out

http://malalibraryloan.wordpress.com

Mentor List

• Untapped talent everywhere

• Promote libraries

• Make connections

• People love to share expertise

Print Resources List

Member Spotlights

• Meet Kate, future ILLSIG Chair

• Her patronus is a housecat

• She’s loaned a book to DLC!

Events

Future Events

Future in Flux

• What will we look like next year? Or in 5 years

• How much should we push our vision?

• All our committee members are leaving! Local vs regions

The MALA Issue

• January 2015

• Pros and cons

• Fee vs free

• Sponsorship vs self-directed

MALA Issue Today

•Unconference• Go ahead as planned (free conference)• Assess after conference

•Decide whether to become an independent group

Attracting Participation

• Committee positions

• Event attendees

• Blog traffic

Lessons learned

Thank you!

Questions?malaillsig@midamericalibraryalliance.org