In November 2025, the Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative (RRSI) Reboot Team shared a draft of RRSI’s updated manifesto.
The Reboot Team hosted two virtual town hall events to foster community discussion and gather feedback on the manifesto. Over 150 resource sharing professionals joined from a diverse array of libraries. These town halls followed the Chatham House Rule and were not recorded, but below is a summary of the events:
- The town halls were held on November 19th with 76 attendees and December 3rd with 82 attendees.
- Over 75% of the town hall attendees were interacting with RRSI for the first time! Other attendees had previously filled out the STAR Checklist or attended a past event.
- The town halls started with an overview of the RRSI Reboot Team’s efforts, including unveiling RRSI’s new logo and website design, a review of the updated and past manifesto, and a brief history of RRSI. The floor was then opened for discussion of the updated manifesto.
Of the issues raised at both town hall meetings regarding the updated manifesto, these ideas seemed to resonate the most with attendees:
Interoperability
- Concerns about reliance on vendors/proprietary systems and networks to participate in ILL
- System interoperability would be a good addition to the manifesto
- However, we can influence something like interoperability, but we can’t control it. Is this a value that belongs in the manifesto?
- Many libraries have outsourced the technical skills required to obtain interoperability. Libraries may need to equip themselves (perhaps within library consortia, not individual libraries) to contribute to technical solutions.
- Crosslink (IDS Network) was mentioned as an example of a tool for interoperability developed by the library community
Ebooks
- Ebook lending standards (clear and consistent language allowing resource sharing to include in electronic resource licenses)
- Consistent ebook format across vendors (full book download possible; DRM free)
- The Boston Library Consortium is making progress with their recent work on ebook lending
- Vendors benefit from inconsistency and vagueness in licenses; the simpler and more unified we could be (i.e. by referring to compliance with a standard), the more consistent for ebook licensing.
Miscellaneous
- These draft values seem applicable to the realities of funding, staffing, technology, workflows, and patron needs
- PALCI consortium recently released their Digital Sharing Strategy, which includes many of these same values
- The values of “equitable” and “collaborative” stood out to one solo ILL practitioner at a small library as a way of ensuring that their patrons have access to resources and that all practitioners have access to training
- Important to include a nod to reference services (as was in the original manifesto) – providing additional support beyond a “no”
- Could “affordability” be a value? We can advocate for it, but we lack control over it
- Recommend taking a stronger stance on “advocacy” as a value in the manifesto
Attendees also expressed a number of other more general thoughts, outside of the manifesto discussion:
- Keep holding these types of events intended for practitioners; future town halls
- Hold future town halls or events like this, but specifically exclude vendors or only include them as part of a panel discussion
- Several people expressed support for these consortium-agnostic town halls and that they felt heard at these events
- One person expressed that consortium-agnostic events like these are “so helpful and important for getting us out of our silos.”
- People noted that resource sharing practitioners tend to be collaborative and supportive
What’s next?
The RRSI Reboot Team is currently reviewing feedback submitted through the online form and provided at the Town Halls. We plan to discuss and revise RRSI’s updated manifesto, with an aim to publish a finalized version in Spring 2026.