CMRLS Academic and Research Collaborative

ARC is the Academic and Research Collaborative of CMRLS. It is a coalition of academic, public, and special research libraries working together to facilitate the sharing of resources and services for the benefit of their collective users.

History

ARC began as the Worcester Area Cooperating Libraries (WACL) in 1967. In 2003, the libraries shaped ARC to become a vibrant committee within CMRLS. ARC members make decisions affecting the collaborative.

The ARC libraries house more than 3,800,000 volumes and more than 23,000 serial subscriptions. They serve an enrolled student body of approximately 26,000 as well as a total approximate population of 771,000 in the greater Worcester area.

CMRLS provides basic services free of charge to all its members. Additional centrally administered ARC programs are managed by CMRLS and funded by library fees. Additional funding from private grants has supported special projects.

So what does ARC do?

Interlibrary Loan
Clientele of any member library may borrow from the resources of others through Interlibrary Loan. Requests for loans are initiated at the patron’s library.

Cross Borrowing Cards for Faculty and Staff
ARC, in cooperation with its member institutions, extends cross borrowing privileges to all full-time and permanent part-time faculty, administrators
and staff. Individually issued ARC cards permit direct loans from member libraries. These cards are available at the patron’s library.

Cross Borrowing Cards for Students
Participating ARC institutions take part in a walk-in student cross borrowing program in which libraries have agreed to share their resources. Details and Cross Borrowing Cards are available from individual libraries.

Delivery Shuttle
Daily during the academic year and twice a week during the summer, a book delivery shuttle service facilitates interlibrary loans throughout the region.