A Narrative History of Resource Sharing in the State of Maryland

This post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of the article submitted to IUPUI ScholarWorks as part of the OASIS Project. Article reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Permission granted through posted policies on copyright owner’s website or through direct contact with copyright owner.The evolution of statewide resource sharing and reciprocal borrowing for Maryland public libraries is discussed. Beginning in the 1950s, the Enoch Pratt Free Library assumed responsibility for filling interlibrary loan requests or the state due to the size of its collection. In 1971, Pratt became the State Library Resource Center and its interlibrary loan responsibilities became formalized. Through a series of technological advancements in library catalogs and interlibrary loan systems, Maryland has arrived at the MARINA system to facilitate sharing resources throughout the state. The state has a long-standing philosophy of cooperation, which makes the MARINA endeavor possible