IFLA Interlending and Document Supply Conference (ILDS)

Theme: Knowledge Without Walls: Sharing in Times of Change

ILDS 2026 is back!!!

Get ready for the 19th IFLA Interlending and Document Supply Conference (ILDS 2026) — coming to Rome, Italy, 23–25 September 2026!

Conference Theme

Knowledge Without Walls: Sharing in Times of Change

Resource-sharing — the supply of loans and copies between libraries regionally, nationally, and globally — is the foundation of international library cooperation, ensuring access to diverse ideas and research materials. Today, this essential mission faces profound global challenges that threaten to build new walls around knowledge and access. The DDRS Standing Committee challenges the resource-sharing community to examine strategies, technologies, and partnerships that dismantle these emerging walls and ensure knowledge equity in this rapidly shifting world.

Key Questions We Wish to Examine

• How can our community responsibly harness the innovation of AI, machine learning, and data analytics to expand resource-sharing efficiency, while proactively developing new policies and models to address associated privacy, copyright, and ethical concerns?

• We particularly encourage proposals that address the following core questions:

• How can our community ensure that resource-sharing networks remain open and resilient in the face of economic recession, restrictive customs policy, and instability?

• How can we best redesign our services to support the changing needs of researchers, students, and displaced communities in an increasingly digital and politically volatile environment?