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Upcoming Changes for TRLN

The following message was sent by the TRLN Executive Committee to the staffs of the member libraries on March 17, 2025.

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to inform you of some changes to the future direction of the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN). 

Since its founding in 1977—and with roots dating back to cooperative collecting agreements in the 1930s—TRLN has played an essential role in bringing together the library systems of Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, and NC Central Universities. Together, we have extended our collective impact, contributing to the growth and sharing of library resources. 

Over the years, many of our staff have attended professional development workshops organized by TRLN, presented at TRLN’s Annual Meetings, and contributed to the implementation of TRLN Discovery and Project ReShare, allowing users to find and access materials from our member libraries quickly and easily. As the oldest library consortium in the U.S., TRLN has built a distinguished legacy of innovation, collaboration, and capacity building in the library profession. 

However, today’s digital-first landscape calls for a shift in strategy so that the consortium can remain effective and sustainable.

In 2024, the TRLN Executive Committee engaged an external consultant to conduct an in-depth operational review of the consortium. That review involved extensive stakeholder engagement with library staff at all four institutions, focusing on TRLN’s fundamental strengths as well as opportunities to reprioritize. The review also took into account the upcoming transition to Alma by all four library systems, with new tools that could take the place of TRLN Discovery as a next-generation unified discovery platform. 

Informed by this review, the Executive Committee has agreed to refocus TRLN’s strategy and structure. The result will be a smaller, more streamlined organization that prioritizes the activities TRLN is uniquely positioned to advance:

  • Resource sharing among member libraries 
  • Print courier service between member libraries
  • Communities of practice among the staff of member institutions
  • Maximizing collaboration within Alma during and after each institution’s transition to the same library enterprise system

This new strategic direction will be supported by a TRLN team of just one or two individuals, still based at Duke, operating in more of a coordinating role. To oversee and assist with this transition over the next 12-18 months, the TRLN Executive Committee has appointed Sue Baughman, former Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), to serve as a consultant. More information about TRLN’s new structure will be available in the coming months, and we encourage you to consult the FAQ on TRLN’s website for additional details.

At this time, we want to express our sincere gratitude to TRLN Executive Director Lisa Croucher, Applications Developer Genia Kazymova, and Program Administrator McKenna Lakin for their dedication and contributions to TRLN over the years. We are committed to providing them with all the support they need as they transition away from TRLN in the months ahead. 

While this is a new direction for TRLN, we are confident that it will enable our libraries to better serve our campus communities in a rapidly changing information landscape. We remain committed to building upon the successes of TRLN, including the shared print initiatives, courier service to facilitate resource sharing, and shared resource discovery platforms.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we shape this new chapter for TRLN. We look forward to our continued partnership in support of the evolving needs and goals of our campus communities now and in the future.

Sincerely,

María R. Estorino
Vice Provost and University Librarian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Greg Raschke
Senior Vice Provost and Director of Libraries, North Carolina State University

Joseph A. Salem, Jr.
University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs, Duke University

Theodosia T. Shields, Ph.D.
Director of Library Services, North Carolina Central University

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Frequently Asked Questions about changes coming for the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN)

1. What changes are coming for TRLN in 2025?

In 2024, the TRLN Executive Committee engaged an external consultant to conduct an in-depth operational review of the consortium. Informed by this review, the Executive Committee has decided to refocus TRLN’s strategy and structure. The result will be a smaller, more streamlined organization, prioritizing activities where TRLN can provide the greatest impact:

  • Resource sharing among member libraries
  • Print courier service between member libraries
  • Communities of practice among the staff of member institutions
  • Maximizing collaboration within Alma during and after each institution’s transition to the same library enterprise system over the next several years

This new strategic direction will be supported by a TRLN team of one or two individuals, still based at Duke, who will operate in a coordinating role. To oversee and assist with this transition over the next 12-18 months, the TRLN Executive Committee has appointed Sue Baughman, former Deputy Executive Director of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), to serve as a consultant.

2. Will the existing request and delivery services from the TRLN libraries be affected by these organizational changes?

All of the existing borrowing and lending services for library patrons will continue uninterrupted. As the libraries transition to the Alma integrated library system over the next several years, there may be some changes in the catalog search interfaces and other minor operational aspects of these services. The libraries will communicate these changes in advance to their university communities.

3. Will the TRLN institutions’ collaboration and cooperation on print materials retention and shared offsite storage continue?

Yes, these initiatives will continue as a high priority for TRLN.

4. What is the future of TRLN Discovery (collaborative software development project for the shared catalog)? 

If all four TRLN libraries migrate to the Alma integrated library system as planned over the next several years, they may adopt Ex Libris’ Primo application as the discovery layer for searching their combined collections, replacing TRLN Discovery. Key staff members from TRLN and the four institutions will develop a comprehensive technical and service plan for any such transition, looking at both short- and longer-term scenarios.

5. Will the TRLN Working Groups and Interest Groups continue?

Yes, active Working Groups and Interest Groups are welcome to continue to meet and work together. The TRLN website will continue to be available as a place for these groups to post and share information. In addition, TRLN will provide a home for new communities of practice bringing together staff of member institutions.

6. Will the TRLN institutions continue to collaborate on professional development activities for their staff? 

No. Developing, sponsoring, and hosting professional development activities will not be in scope for TRLN. Staff members are encouraged to take advantage of the professional development opportunities offered by other regional and national consortia and organizations such as ASERL and the many online and onsite conferences and meetings that are available locally, regionally, and nationally in their areas of interest and specialty. 

7. Will there be a TRLN Annual Meeting in 2025?

No. Convening an annual meeting will no longer be part of TRLN’s core mission.

8. Will the 2025 Library Technology Career Jumpstart Program still take place?

No. Due to the organizational changes that will affect TRLN’s ability to host the program, the previously scheduled Library Technology Career Jumpstart Program will be canceled. We understand that this may be disappointing news, especially to those who have already applied, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will provide further updates as soon as possible.

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2025 Library Technology Career Jumpstart Program

TRLN is excited to announce that we will host the Library Technology Career Jumpstart Program, a free, immersive, weeklong experience that prepares first-year library school students for a career in library technology upon graduation. The program was hosted virtually by NC State University Libraries for three consecutive years and has graduated 28 alumni. In August 2025, the program will be offered for the first time in person in Durham, NC.

Program participants will…

  • glimpse “a day in the life” of different types of technology positions in libraries
  • participate in technical workshops
  • network with professionals at top institutions, including Duke University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • be matched with a mentor for ongoing support
  • build the foundation for developing elements of a technical portfolio
  • learn how to find, apply for, and interview for technical positions in libraries

All Jumpstart Program updates and information can be found at trln.org/jumpstart. Contact info@trln.org with any questions.

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2024 TRLN Annual Meeting Registration and Schedule

The 2024 TRLN Annual Meeting will be held at The Friday Conference Center in Chapel Hill on Monday, July 29. We are excited to return to a full-day, in-person meeting format and hope you can join us!

Registration is open for the 2024 TRLN Annual Meeting at https://bit.ly/24TRLNregister. Registration will close at 5:00pm on Monday, July 22.

The full schedule is available at https://trln.org/event/2024-trln-annual-meeting/#schedule.

Registration in advance helps with our planning and is much appreciated. Regardless of when you register and what you register for, you will receive Annual Meeting information and session confirmations via email a week before the event and a reminder on the morning of the event. All event updates can be found at https://trln.org/event/2024-trln-annual-meeting and contact events@trln.org with any questions.

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2024 Annual Meeting Call for Proposals

For the first time since 2019, the 2024 TRLN Annual Meeting will be a fully in-person event! On Monday, July 29, we’ll be convening in Chapel Hill, to reunite and regroup in the newly renovated Friday Center. Given that five years have passed since we last met in person, the Annual Meeting Steering Committee is structuring plenty of time and space to gather around timely topics that will help us take stock and chart our course into the future.

We are inviting proposals for three types of sessions:

  1. Presentations (5, 20, or 45 minutes), to inform colleagues about projects and activities, such as a mentoring program, a digitization project, or an exhibition. (You can take advantage of this opportunity to practice presenting for future conferences or professional meetings.)
  2. Workshops (1 or 2 hours), to educate or train colleagues on a particular skill or domain of knowledge, such as copyright, including cataloging, licensing of electronic materials, developing a budget, project management.
  3. Discussions (1 or 2 hours), to engage with colleagues on a timely and relevant topic, such as artificial intelligence, Alma transitions, international area studies and global collections, ASERL professional development retreats, finance and administration, accessibility, library communications.

Submit a proposal by 11:59pm on June 3 at https://bit.ly/trln2024cfp. 

We encourage proposals from anyone who works in a TRLN member library. Collaborative sessions with colleagues from multiple institutions also are encouraged. 

All submissions will be reviewed by the Annual Meeting Steering Committee and selections will be announced by June 14.

For more information about the 2024 Annual Meeting, visit the event page at https://trln.org/event/2024-trln-annual-meeting.  Reach out to events@trln.org if you have any questions!

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2023 DLF Forum and NDSA DigiPres Recap

The 2023 CLIR events included the DLF Forum and NDSA DigiPres held in St. Louis, Missouri November 12 through 16.

Featured Speakers

The Forum started with a fascinating and insightful talk about “gaming as a place where Black history and culture can be told outside conventional tropes and stereotypes that often pervade media” by Dr. Kishonna Gray entitled “Archiving Cultures: Gaming as Black Digital Storytelling”.

Recording of Dr. Kishonna Gray’s DLF Forum Opening Plenary

NDSA DigiPress featured a talk from Dr. Jamie Lee entitled “Kairotic and Kin-centric Archives: Addressing Abundances and Abandonments” to “reveal the practices, pedagogies, and possibilities of working in, with, and for non-dominant communities in the maintenance of their memories as bodies of knowledge, experiences, affects, and relations”.

Recording of Dr. Jamie Lee’s NDSA DigiPress Opening Plenary

Sessions of Note

Several sessions featuring TRLN colleagues included:

Helpful Links

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Fall 2023 IDEA Funding Recipient

TRLN is excited to announce one recipient of the final round of IDEA funding: “Islamic and Persian Bookbinding Workshop with Yasmeen Khan”.

About the Project

Submitted by Erin Hammeke (Duke), “Islamic and Persian Bookbinding Workshop with Yasmeen Khan” will be a multi-day workshop on historic Islamic and Persian bookbindings taught by Yasmeen Khan, Head of Paper Conservation at the Library of Congress.

There are almost 100,000 books in Arabic and Persian languages held across TRLN libraries. This workshop will allow conservation staff to more competently care for collection materials from a wider range of geographic and cultural areas in the Islamic world.

The workshop will include lectures on Islamic bookbindings and their conservation. Students will produce an Islamic and/or Persian bookbinding historical model. The class will examine Islamic and Persian bookbindings from Duke’s Rubenstein Library collections to learn about their historic and cultural context.

Students will have a better sense of Islamic material culture and specific language for Islamic bindings. Having enhanced knowledge of Islamic and Persian bookbindings, including their unique structures, will allow staff to better care for these materials across the TRLN collections.

About IDEA Funding

TRLN seeks to support our member institutions’ work in inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility with project funding. Staff members at any TRLN library can apply for funding for a variety of projects that further their library’s and TRLN’s goals to establish or advance inclusion, diversity, equity, or accessibility efforts.

The Executive Committee approved a total of $100,000 of funding, to be distributed across two years (two funding cycles per year). Learn more about this funding.

Contact info@trln.org with any questions about this project or TRLN’s IDEA funding.

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Call for Proposals for IDEA Funding Fall 2023 Round

TRLN is again welcoming proposals for IDEA funding. A total of $25,000 is available for the Fall 2023 round of funding. Although proposals are invited on a semi-annual basis, funded projects may extend past or be scheduled outside of this timeframe, depending on scope and needs.

Learn more about TRLN’s IDEA funding including how to submit a proposal. Contact info@trln.org with any questions.

Important Dates

  • October 2 : submission deadline
  • October 9 : funded projects announced
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TRLN is live in ReShare

On June 21, TRLN went live with ReShare Returnables – an open source resource sharing platform. ReShare is now the engine for our consortial borrowing and lending program – TRLN Direct.

This change to patrons was largely invisible and intended to be so, but the change to ReShare Returnables brings great improvements for staff working in these services and ultimately, improves patrons’ experiences.

What is ReShare?

ReShare is both a platform and a community. TRLN has long been a member of the ReShare community to guide the development of the platform and we are very excited to be using it now.

ReShare Returnables is the first module we implemented to manage the borrowing and lending of physical materials, but an exciting part of the ReShare community is the opportunity to adopt other community developed modules for non-returnables and controlled digital lending.

TRLN member libraries have been sharing resources for decades. Given our close geographic proximity, sharing materials is one of our core activities. We’re pleased to make our longstanding and successful service even better. It’s especially exciting to improve our own service through participation in a creative and collaborative community that has prioritized open source approaches to supporting libraries.”

Lisa Croucher, Executive Director of TRLN

About Our Implementation

Although our work with ReShare goes back to being a founding member of the community, our local effort to adopt Reshare Returnables started with a thorough evaluation and comparison of other platforms throughout the Spring of 2022 – resulting in a recommendation to adopt ReShare Returnables.

The ReShare Implementation Working Group formed in June 2022 with a goal of going live in the Summer of 2023. We partnered with Index Data, a longstanding development partner of the platform and community, to host and implement ReShare Returnables.

ReShare Returnables relies on a shared source of records to know both what items we have in our collections and what can be loaned. We decided to contribute our MARC data to POD, where the records could easily be harvested by Index Data and searched by ReShare.

Now that we are live with ReShare, we join a peer group of several library consortiums already using the platform – Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation, PALCI, and ConnectNY. TRLN is excited to be part of this community of users.

With great gratitude, we want to thank the ReShare Implementation Working Group members for their work as part of this implementation. Members include:

  • Duke University
    • Michael Edwards, Resource Sharing Librarian
    • Andrea Loigman, Head, Access and Delivery Services
    • Erin Nettifee, IT Business Analyst
  • NC Central
    • Vickie Spencer, Head Circulation Librarian
    • Yan Wang, Systems Librarian
  • NC State University
    • Mia Partlow, Resource Sharing Librarian
    • Thomas Jones, Access Services University Library Specialist
    • Kristen Wilson, Discovery Systems Manager
  • UNC at Chapel Hill
    • Renée Bosman, Government Information Librarian
    • Ashleigh Donaldson, Borrowing Assistant
    • Jamie McGarty, Library Software Applications Developer
    • Joe Moran, Systems Administrator
    • David Pierpont, Saturday and Carrels Supervisor
  • TRLN
    • Kelly Farrell, Program Officer (Project lead)
    • Genia Kazymova, Applications Developer

Reach out to info@trln.org with any questions.

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2023 Annual Meeting Call for Proposals

TRLN is now inviting proposals for workshops, presentations, and lightning talks for the 2023 Annual Meeting being held on July 17 and 18.

Submit a proposal at bit.ly/trln2023cfp (link to form will open in a new tab). The deadline to submit a proposal is June 2, 2023.

Proposals of up to 150 words should be submitted along with an abbreviated abstract of 50 words that will be included on the annual meeting website.

About Presenting

Who can present?

Anyone who works in a TRLN member institution. We welcome proposals of any domain, area of expertise, and library. We also encourage partnering with colleagues to co-present.

What topics are considered?

We welcome presentations about interesting activities at your institution. Do you have a completed, current, or upcoming project that other attendees might want to hear about or replicate? Working groups and interest groups are encouraged to share updates about their projects and accomplishments.

If you are planning on presenting or leading a workshop at another conference later this year, we also encourage you to present during the annual meeting to share your exciting work and to practice presenting.

Topics could include, but are not limited to:

  • Technologies, infrastructure, and/or vendor relations;
  • Inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility projects or programs;
  • Collections and resources;
  • Policy, legal, and accessibility issues;
  • Project management, design, or implementation;
  • Assessment;
  • Education and/or professional development; 
  • Partnerships with university presses;
  • Leadership and management; and
  • Sustainability.

How long can presentations be?

Presentations ranging from 5 minute lightning talks, 30 minute presentations, or longer workshops will be considered. Sessions will be grouped into blocks.

Will I present virtually or in-person?

This year, we are exploring how we might be able to offer more in-person opportunities so we included a question in the submission form about if you would be willing to present in-person to assist in our planning.

Once we close the call for proposals, TRLN staff will follow up with you about your preference for how you present. If you have questions about presenting either in-person or virtually, please reach out to events@trln.org.

When will I hear if my proposal has been accepted?

All submissions will be reviewed by the Annual Meeting Steering Committee and selections will be announced by June 7.

Reach out to events@trln.org if you have any questions!