INTERLIBRARY LOAN Saying Yes Matters By Elizabeth S. Speer

Mention Interlibrary loan (ILL) to someone outside of the library world and you will most likely get a blank stare. You know the one; the same dazed and confused look that we get when we try to explain electronic resource management or the importance of literacy instruction. But, within the library world, we know that ILL is invaluable, and in some cases…it might save a life.

Elizabeth S. Speer At the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) the ILL crew consists of three people, me and two library technicians one of whom is a backup for emergencies only. Honestly though, ILL at UNTHSC is Megan Horn. Don’t get me wrong, we all have our place in the process. I make policy decisions, run and track statistics, and supervise. Maria Balduf, our trusted and valued backup, fills in when Megan needs to be off. But Megan is the backbone of our ILL processes. She literally is ILL and her work helps save lives.

Megan Horn

I know that it probably sounds like I am exaggerating. But over the last year Megan has filled thousands of ILL requests. As a university we provide ILL services to our medical students, research faculty, support staff, and local health care providers. Every time Megan says yes to a request or reaches out to allow another library to say yes, we place medical information into the hands of the people who will determine Every time Megan says yes to a request treatment for a patient. It is easy to forget how important saying yes can be. ILL is often an or reaches out to allow another library to say overlooked or dismissed service. It isn’t flashy or glamorous. We use it to determine holes in our collections, yes, we place medical information into the to maximize our budget, or to justify cancellations. Even those that process the requests do not always see the effect hands of the people who will determine treatment of the behind-the-scenes efforts that take place. Megan gets a request, she says yes or solicits another library to for a patient. say yes, and then she passes on the item normally never knowing what happens or if the article was helpful or used. But not in March. In March, Megan may have helped save a life. And best of all, we know she did.

In early March, UNTHSC received a request from a health care provider. In our system that means anyone who works in the health care industry that is not affiliated with UNTHSC. This particular doctor uses our services often enough that Megan recognized his name. And so, she did what she always does, she said yes, and she sent out the call so that others could say yes. When the article arrived, Megan sent it out to our community doctor friend. Normally that is where our story ends. Task complete. We take pride in completing those requests. We do it fast enough that we have been recognized by OCLC as a top lender. But this time, we got to take pride in the work for a different reason.

Upon receipt of the article Megan received a personal email from the doctor who made the request. It turns out that he was going to be performing cancer surgery on a patient within the next days. The article that Megan was able to send to him because libraries say yes was about the most cutting-edge technology for this type of surgery. He wanted to thank her and show his appreciation of our library for allowing him to have the opportunity to review new medical literature that will help save his patient’s life. Megan’s work in ILL helped determine the best course of treatment for a person in our community. Her work just gave doctors on the surgical team the best information available for helping their patient. A patient who I am sure was scared and had put their trust into their medical team. A medical team that put their trust in HSC and ultimately, in Megan Horn.

ILL matters. Saying yes to providing services to the community matters. You never know, your yes might help save a life today.

Elizabeth Speer is the electronic resources and acquisitions librarian at the University of North Texas Health Science Center Gibson D. Lewis Library.