Because there was at least one major misstatement about librarians and library services at a recent committee hearing, it seems useful to summarize a few basic concepts about interlibrary loan in general and library services in the emerging digital age. Interlibrary loan is not a new phenomenon and is not a threat to American commerce. In fact, Interlibrary Loan has been an essential research tool for academic libraries for over a hundred years. Librarians are very careful to follow the copyright laws in interlibrary loan and will continue to do so. Even the U.S. Library of Congress has an Interlibrary Loan office and borrows books from other libraries to augment even their vast holdings.
Many books are out of print and are no longer available.
Research areas change and new ones can't always be predicted. Libraries collect different things to meet their local needs, so there is surprisingly little overlap in titles held, particularly among academic libraries. In fact, more books are published now than at any time in history, and the pace is picking up. Library budgets are very limited. Libraries are buying a smaller and smaller fraction of the increased output because budgets are constrained.