The Role of SWRLS

The South Western Regional Library Service is a charity (2840720) working in the field of resource discovery and sharing and interlibrary lending in the South West of England and the Channel Islands. Its work is now mainly strategic, consisting of:

• representing the interests of member libraries at a national level such as The Combined Regions (TCR) and its working group, CONARLS
• co-ordinating data input to UnityUK, the union catalogue of The Combined Regions, and contributing to its technical development.
• developing a regional union catalogue through the use of WorldCat Local
• coordinating and promoting INSPIRE initiative in the region
• supporting and promoting the Newsplan project, preserving local newspapers on microfilm, within the South West
• funding and supporting the SWRLS/Plymouth Music Scheme, ensuring that all member libraries have adequate access to sheet music
• training and development opportunities to CILIP Seal of Recognition standard
• working jointly with JISC RSC SW to meet training needs of members

SWRLS also co-operates with other appropriate cultural agencies, such as Cyprus Well (SW Literature Agency) and the Arts Council SW and advises them on library matters in the SW.