Strengthening South Africa’s library ecosystem through collaboration 

South African libraries operate in a context defined by constrained budgets, uneven access to resources, and growing expectations from users who increasingly assume seamless, on-demand access to information. As a result, collaboration is no longer a secondary value of librarianship—it is a practical necessity.

At a national level, two services play a central role in enabling this collaboration. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and modern, cloud-based library management systems. Together, they allow libraries to move beyond institutional silos. This also allow them to participate in a shared national knowledge ecosystem that delivers tangible benefits to the sector. 

Interlibrary loan as a national public good 

ILL has long been part of the South African library landscape, but its importance has intensified in recent years. From a national borrowing and lending perspective, it enables libraries to function as contributors to a collective resource pool rather than as isolated collection holders. 

Through national resource sharing: 

• scarce and specialised materials are shared rather than duplicated, 

• smaller and under-resourced libraries gain access to collections they could not sustain independently, and 

• public and institutional investment in library resources is leveraged for maximum national benefit. 

Resource sharing is therefore more than a service transaction—it is a mechanism for equity, efficiency, and shared stewardship. 

Sabinet plays a critical role in enabling this model of collaboration. By providing structured national ILL frameworks, shared platforms, and standardised workflows, Sabinet allows South African libraries to participate in resource sharing reliably and at scale. This replaces fragmented, manual arrangements with a coordinated national borrowing and lending environment that improves turnaround times, accountability, and visibility across institutions. 

In a country where access to information remains uneven, national ILL is one of the most powerful tools available to libraries to serve the greater good. 

Modern systems for a collaborative future 

Collaboration at this scale depends on more than shared values—it requires systems that are designed for interoperability and shared workflows. Legacy library systems, manual processes, and siloed infrastructure place real limits on how effectively libraries can participate in national borrowing and lending networks. 

This is where WorldShare® Management Services (WMS), developed by OCLC and supported locally by Sabinet, has gained traction within South Africa’s special and government library sectors. WMS comprises a suite of integrated modules—including cataloguing, acquisitions, circulation, discovery, licence management, and resource sharing—designed to operate within a shared, cloud-based environment. 

Rather than treating the library management system as a back-office tool, WMS provides an integrated systems environment that supports collaboration, visibility, and operational efficiency. What this looks like in practice is best illustrated through recent South African uptake. 

Case study: Special libraries moving off legacy systems 

Several South African special libraries have adopted WMS to address the growing burden of maintaining ageing, locally hosted systems. With limited IT capacity and small teams, these libraries needed a solution that reduced technical overhead without compromising functionality. 

By moving to a cloud-based platform, libraries reported: 

• significantly reduced system maintenance and upgrade demands, 

• simplified workflows across acquisitions, cataloguing, and circulation, and 

• improved staff capacity to focus on user support and research services rather than system administration. 

Just as importantly, their collections became more visible within national resource-sharing networks. 

Case study: Government libraries and continuity of service 

For government libraries, service continuity, compliance, and accountability are critical. WMS has been adopted by government libraries seeking a stable, standards-based platform that supports these requirements while enabling collaboration. 

Libraries report that: 

• centralised workflows improve consistency and reporting, 

• cloud hosting reduces operational risk, and 

• Integration with resource-sharing services strengthens access to materials across departments and institutions. 

In this context, WMS supports not only internal efficiency but broader public-sector knowledge sharing. 

In each case, system modernisation is linked to stronger participation in national resource sharing. 

Across libraries, a consistent pattern has emerged: those using WorldShare ILL, whether as part of the broader WMS suite or as a standalone resource-sharing solution, are better positioned to participate effectively in national and international interlibrary loan networks. 

Improved metadata quality, real-time visibility of holdings, and integrated workflows mean that requests move faster and collections are more easily discovered. As adoption grows, these benefits extend beyond individual libraries, strengthening the national borrowing and lending ecosystem. 

From ownership to access 

National ILL services and modern library management systems reflect a broader shift within South African librarianship—from ownership as a measure of value to access as a shared national outcome. 

Libraries remain custodians of their collections, but they also function as contributors to a collective knowledge infrastructure. Through Sabinet’s ILL services and support for WMS, libraries enhance their ability to serve local users while advancing national access, efficiency, and equity. 

Collaboration is most effective when it is supported by the right systems and partners. Sabinet works closely with South African libraries. To strengthen national interlibrary loan and support the adoption of modern, collaborative library management platforms. Libraries seeking to strengthen national borrowing and lending, modernise workflows, and maximise the value of their collections are encouraged to engage with Sabinet to explore how ILL and WorldShare solutions can support their institutional and sector-wide goals.