INTERNATIONAL LENDING: PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES FOR PROCEDURES (1978)

The mutual use of individual collections is a necessary element of international co‐operation by libraries. Just as no library can be self‐sufficient in meeting all the information needs of its clientele, so no country can be self‐sufficient. If the library service of a country is to be effective, methods must be devised to obtain access to material held in other collections in other countries. International lending has as its aim the supply by one country to another, in the surest and fastest way, of documents that are not available in the country where they are needed.