Quick turnarounds secure OCLC Express honor

Published Feb 02, 2026 by
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Boosted by achieving an average 10-hour turnaround time during the last handful of years, East Carolina University’s Interlibrary Loan program has continued to earn OCLC Express digital delivery status.

William Gee, head of ECU Interlibrary Loan at Joyner Library, was notified of the latest Express honor in January. It was noted ECU was selected because its ILL staff’s exceptional work, consistently delivering articles and other digital resources within 18 hours or less through OCLC’s WorldShare ILL network.

OCLC is a global library organization that provides shared technology services and supports research and community programs to members and the library community at large.

“Joyner Library’s Interlibrary Loan service was first invited to join OCLC’s Express program in March 2021 — only two months after it launched,” Gee said. “Of the more than 10,000 libraries worldwide that participate in the OCLC resource sharing network, only about 10% currently meet the criteria for Express membership. We are glad for ECU to be among these fastest supplying libraries, so we can also obtain articles and chapters quickly from those same libraries for ECU’s students, faculty and staff.”

Gee emphasized daily dedication, including by student employees Keaton Caldwell and Makilah Williams, makes OCLC Express membership possible. James Stroud is ILL lending and document delivery manager. Arwen Parris is Interlibrary Loan borrowing manager.

Collectively, the students and staff provide quick, quality service to library partners across North Carolina, and other states and countries.

“Doing so furthers our collaboration, so those institutions’ researchers will have access to the information they need,” Gee said. “Students, faculty and staff here at ECU, likewise, will be able to obtain what we need as quickly as we can get it. We in ILL sustain this level of service through employee dedication and training, workflow optimization, system automation and request prioritization.”