Project ReShare: Progress and Expansion

Project ReShare hosted a virtual open meeting on Monday, December 14, 2020, to share project updates with interested colleagues. Nearly 400 people registered for the event. A recording of the meeting is available on the Project ReShare presentations page. 

ReShare has come a long way from its 2018 beginnings when a small group of librarians began gathering informally to envision a new and open approach to library resource sharing systems that support discovery, fulfillment, and delivery workflows. 

Thanks to members’ investments, the project has evolved from those initial conversations to the release of version 1.1 of ReShare Returnables. 

With your help, we can accomplish even more.  Additional members, and increased investment, will accelerate our progress toward the transformation of resource sharing at a time when that transformation is clearly and acutely needed. 

The minimum financial contribution to join Project ReShare is $1,500. If 200 of the libraries and consortia who participated in the December 14 meeting were to join the community at the minimum contribution level for three years, the project would be infused with $900,000 to support the next phase — development of a product for non-returnables, integration of controlled digital lending (CDL) functionality, and robust and scalable support for multitype consortia. 

Each of these endeavors alone is a worthwhile investment for libraries and consortia. Project ReShare presents the opportunity to help make all of these things happen.

The Project ReShare progress and expansion to date would not have been possible without the support of library and library consortium members who have made contributions in various forms, including developing user stories, user experience, and the software itself; applying subject matter and other expertise; implementing communication and engagement strategies; and investing financial resources. 

We invite all interested parties to invest in the continued success of Project ReShare.  Contact info@projectreshare.org to contribute and to participate in the transformation of resource sharing, for all libraries everywhere.