Library Resource Sharing Webinar Q&A

Florida Libraries Discuss the FLIN SHAREit Interlibrary Loan System for Library Resource Sharing

Webinar hosted by Brad Frasher, CEO, Soutron Global, with support from Kathy Maloney, Bureau Chief, State Library of Florida

What does library resource sharing look like in practice? On August 6, 2026, Soutron Global CEO Brad Frasher hosted a library resource sharing webinar on FLIN SHAREit, Florida’s statewide interlibrary loan network, funded by the Division of Library and Information Services and free to FLIN member libraries. For library professionals in public, academic, special, and K-12 school libraries, the session showed how libraries use FLIN SHAREit day to day to expand access to collections, streamline interlibrary loan workflows, easily fitting FLIN resource sharing into existing operations.

Rather than a product pitch, this library resource sharing webinar put the microphone in the hands of the libraries using the Florida statewide interlibrary loan system every day: Grace Ranier and Emily Veglia, circulation specialists at Flagler College’s Proctor Library (live on SHAREit since January 2026), and Michael Hockenson of Charlotte County Libraries and History, who manages interlibrary loan for the Charlotte public library system (live since October 2021). Kathy Maloney supported the session and fielded questions about onboarding for libraries ready to join, with discussion spanning implementation experience, training, workflow integration, ongoing system improvements, and what to consider before joining the FLIN resource-sharing network.

Below are highlights from the library resource sharing webinar panel discussion and audience Q&A, along with a note that attendees unable to join live can view the on-demand recording of the past session.

Life Before a Statewide Resource Sharing System

Q: What did interlibrary loan look like before SHAREit?

Michael Hockenson (Charlotte County): “We used WorldShare exclusively before that, and it was quite the instructions we had to go through to get a loan put through. We had an eight-page, double-sided instruction packet at each library location telling us how to do it. It wasn’t very conducive to a smooth patron experience. The way it is now with SHAREit, it’s 100% better.”

Emily Veglia (Flagler College): “Our previous resource sharing process was centered on one platform, OCLC WorldShare, which we are still using, but now we’re using it with SHAREit. Our patrons don’t interact with either platform. They submit a form through our library’s website, and I decide which system to use depending on the item that’s requested.”

Q: How hard was it to fold SHAREit into an established ILL workflow?

Grace Ranier (Flagler College): “It was a very, very easy incorporation into that workflow. I have a spreadsheet that tracks outgoing and incoming requests, so just adding that into the spreadsheet was essentially all I had to do. It didn’t require any sort of reinvention of how we worked.”

Emily Veglia: “I’ll admit in the beginning, I wasn’t quite sure how that would look and feel on the day-to-day managing requests, but it’s almost been effortless.”

How Library Resource Sharing Changed the Day-to-Day

Q: What’s been the biggest improvement since going live?

Grace Ranier: “Accessibility is the largest one, in terms of both borrowing and lending. There’s been a huge increase in requests, especially from public libraries, which is very exciting coming from an academic library. It’s connected us with a broader network. Our collection is getting used beyond our usual partners. It’s making the most of the materials we already own.”

Michael Hockenson: “One of the biggest benefits we’ve seen is improved efficiency. Before SHAREit, there were more manual steps involved in processing requests and keeping track of where everything stood. Having requests in one system makes it much easier to follow them from start to finish. Instead of spending as much time managing the process itself, we can focus more on providing good service to our patrons.”

Q: Which SHAREit feature would you least want to give up?

Emily Veglia: “The fact that SHAREit creates the lender list for you, that is hands down my favorite. I can put a request through SHAREit and it almost runs itself. And the history information, there’s just a lot more information provided than what I’ve seen in WorldShare. That helps me keep the patron more involved, and they feel more engaged in the process.”

Grace Ranier: “I really love how the workflow is organized, how it’s broken down into clear action cues on the homepage. Those visuals are really important to my workflow in terms of efficiency and staying on track. The ‘will supply in process’ option is a nice middle ground, as opposed to just a yes or a no. And the retry button is a nice option.”

Implementing an Interlibrary Loan Service for Library Resource Sharing

Learning Curve and Surprises

Q: What surprised you after implementation?

Michael Hockenson: “I was pleasantly surprised how quickly our staff was able to pick it up, how quickly SHAREit became part of our everyday workflows. Whenever you introduce a new system, you expect an adjustment period, but we weren’t really thinking about SHAREit as the new system anymore. It just simply became the way we handled interlibrary loan. After five years of using it, it’s difficult to imagine our workflow without it.”

Q: How steep is the learning curve for staff?

Michael Hockenson: “I have a new coworker who just started a couple of months ago. She’s already been going through the trainings, and she was able to pick up the system while I went on vacation. She had no problem picking it up. As everyone became more comfortable with the workflow, using SHAREit became second nature.”

Emily Veglia: “It wasn’t a steep learning curve. The webinars, the tutorials, the trainings, I haven’t ever gotten that kind of support through interlibrary loan. Receiving that kind of support helped the implementation process not to be so overwhelming or intimidating. SHAREit kind of holds your hand through the whole process.”

Q: Does SHAREit keep improving, or is it a static system?

Michael Hockenson: “SHAREit is constantly evolving. The way it is right now is not what it looked like when I started in this position full time back in February, and it’s been updated pretty heavily since then. Every update has been nothing but positive. Every update makes everything so much easier.”

Brad Frasher (Soutron Global): “One of the things we really focus on is fewer clicks. Whenever we’re doing updates, we’re working to reduce the number of clicks it takes to do something by 50%, whether that means you can edit settings more quickly or create better workflow changes as the system keeps improving.”

Interlibrary Loan at Public Libraries and Academic Libraries: Patron Wins

Q: Can you share a moment the network really came through?

Emily Veglia: “A coworker’s request went unfilled through WorldShare. I added a few lenders to the string and it went unfilled again. Right before I was going to tell her “I’m really sorry, we couldn’t fill this”, I thought, wait, hold on. I jumped over into Share It and put the request through, and it was filled the next day, no more than a couple of days. That’s all you ever want working in interlibrary loan, to be able to tell your patron, wait, we got it actually, and it’s coming.”

Michael Hockenson: “One of the most rewarding parts of working in interlibrary loan is being able to tell a patron, yes, we can get that for you. SHAREit has helped make those conversations happen more often. That’s a win for both our staff and our community. We get items from Texas, from New Orleans. I’ve seen stuff from my home state of Rhode Island.”

Joining a Library Resource Sharing Network: Setup, Training Materials, and Cost

Q: Was connecting SHAREit to your ILS catalog a heavy technical lift?

Emily Veglia: “Our systems librarian managed implementation, and from what I know, it was very straightforward. If any questions came up, Kathy was wonderful, Debbie as well. It was a very smooth process.”

Michael Hawkinson described the connection as “a seamless integration” and said it had been “a really smooth transition for us.”

Q: What does onboarding actually involve?

Kathy Maloney (State Library of Florida): “There is an application to join Share It. You just need to give me a little information about your ILS system. Once I get that, I send it to Soutron and we start configuring your profile, and sometimes that takes maybe a day or two. After that, I send out training information. It really does not take much time at all to get you up and running.”

She added that most training was created by Debbie Hensler, Soutron Global’s Customer Success Manager, including topic-focused “Sharing about SHAREit” sessions and a 90-minute general ILL overview she recommends new libraries take first.

Q: Is there a cost to participate?

Brad Frasher: No. FLIN SHAREit is funded by the Division of Library and Information Services, so member libraries participate without any fee. Public, academic, special, and K-12 school libraries are all eligible.

Kathy Maloney: “What I always tell libraries, if they’re interested, is just to join. Try it out. See if you like it. If you don’t like it, you go back to doing it the way you did it before. We have a lot of libraries who have tried both platforms and decided they want to totally use FLIN Share It, and that’s allowed them a cost savings to drop their other system.”

Advice for Libraries Considering an Interlibrary Loan System

Q: What advice would you give a library still deciding whether to join?

Grace Ranier: “Do it. That’s my answer. Be mindful of your pre-existing workflow and how you plan to implement it. I started with one request, to see if it came back, and it did. And go to the webinars, go to the sessions.”

Michael Hockenson: “Take advantage of the offered training. Don’t expect to get it right away. It’s like anything else, it takes a little bit of time to get used to, but keep doing them over and over and you’ll get it. Just join Share It, you’ll love it. It makes your job so much easier.”

Emily Veglia: “It is almost effortless. I went into it thinking this might be a lot, it might be too much, but Share It takes care of that request for you. I would say go for it.”

Frequently Asked Questions About Library Resource Sharing with FLIN SHAREit

Quick reference answers, drawn from the library resource sharing webinar, for libraries evaluating the program.

What is FLIN SHAREit?

FLIN SHAREit is Florida’s statewide library resource sharing network, funded by the Division of Library and Information Services and powered by SHAREit from Soutron Global. Extended resource-sharing beyond state lines can be done through SHAREit ISSI, which connects libraries throughout North America to each other to facilitate interlibrary loan fulfillment quests. It connects public, academic, special, and K-12 school libraries into one interlibrary loan system so libraries can fill patron requests from a statewide collection. It has been live since 2020 and is free for FLIN member libraries.

Is there a cost to participate in FLIN SHAREit?

No. FLIN SHAREit is funded by the Division of Library and Information Services, so Florida member libraries participate without any fee. Public, academic, special, and K-12 school libraries are all eligible. Some libraries that ran SHAREit alongside another platform have since consolidated onto SHAREit alone, realizing cost savings by dropping the other system.

Does SHAREit replace a library’s existing interlibrary loan system?

Not necessarily. SHAREit fits into a library’s existing ILL workflow, and both libraries on the webinar panel run SHAREit alongside OCLC WorldShare today. Panelists described adding SHAREit as adjusting a routine rather than reinventing one. Some libraries later consolidate onto a single platform; each library makes its own call.

What does onboarding to FLIN SHAREit involve?

Libraries complete a short application with basic information about their ILS system. Profile configuration typically takes a day or two, followed by training. Most training was created by Soutron Global’s Customer Success team, including topic-focused “Sharing about SHAREit” sessions and a 90-minute general interlibrary loan service overview recommended as a starting point. Libraries then set their own lending policies.

Is connecting SHAREit to a library’s ILS catalog a heavy technical lift?

Panelists described the integration as straightforward and seamless. Libraries choose a connection type, creating custom workflows along the way as staff links additional connection settings during setup: a live Z39.50 connection or a hybrid record upload option. Flagler College’s systems librarian managed implementation and found it very smooth, with support questions answered quickly.

How steep is the learning curve for SHAREit?

Panelists said the learning curve was not steep. Charlotte County reported that a brand-new staff member picked up the system independently after working through the available training sessions, and that SHAREit quickly became second nature. Flagler College staff said the available webinars, tutorials, and trainings made implementation far less overwhelming.

Is SHAREit actively updated?

Yes. Panelist Michael Hockenson said SHAREit is constantly evolving, has been updated heavily in recent months, and that every update has made the work easier. Soutron Global CEO Brad Frasher said the team’s focus for every update is reducing the number of clicks a task takes, with a target of cutting clicks by 50% wherever a workflow is touched.

What can be shared through the network?

Both physical items and digital copies can be shared. Each library decides what it will and won’t share, so every participant stays in control of its own collection and lending policies.

Can Florida libraries borrow and lend beyond the state?

Yes. Through SHAREit’s Inter-System Sharing Initiative (ISSI), participating libraries can request and lend with libraries in other states, all from within the same interlibrary loan system. Participation in ISSI is opt-in, decided library by library. Panelists reported receiving items from as far away as Texas, New Orleans, and Rhode Island.

What advice do current users give libraries considering an interlibrary loan system like SHAREit?

Panelists’ advice: just do it, but be mindful of your pre-existing workflow when planning implementation. Start small if you like (one panelist began with a single request), take full advantage of the offered training webinars and tutorials, and give staff time to get comfortable. Libraries can try FLIN SHAREit at no cost and return to their previous process if it is not a fit.

Ready to explore library resource sharing for your Florida library?

Florida libraries that are current FLIN members can apply through the Division’s FLIN SHAREit application form. Contact Kathy Maloney at the Division of Library and Information Services to get started, or visit soutron.com to learn more about SHAREit, the interlibrary loan service behind FLIN.