More than 260 college, university, and independent research libraries in the U.S., Canada, and Hong Kong are members of the Center for Research Libraries. These libraries work together to identify, preserve and acquire critical evidence and documentation for advanced research and teaching, and their researchers in turn benefit from CRL collections and services.

Not a member? Find out how to join CRL and enjoy all of these benefits.

CRL Membership Benefits

Access to vast collections and electronic resources: 

• Unlimited access to a collection of approximately five million items, including the largest circulating collection of newspapers in North America, more than 38,000 foreign journals and 800,000 foreign dissertations, held in few if any other U.S. libraries, and major microfilm and paper collections from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and more.
• Extended Interlibrary Loan:  Long runs of CRL materials are loaned for entire academic cyles and the duration of advanced research projects, with third-day delivery on the vast majority of interlibrary loans.
• Digital Delivery: Over four million pages of CRL collection materials have been digitized and posted to the Web to fulfill loan requests and scholarly needs.
• No-cost document delivery, through RapidILL, of articles from the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology's extensive collection of serials.
• Online access to the LLMC-Digital database of over 41 million pages and 100,000 volumes of primary legal publications, and to The Charleston Advisor, an online review of electronic databases.
• Demand purchases: CRL acquires materials at no charge on request for researchers at CRL libraries in three areas: foreign dissertations, newspapers, and archival materials.

Participation in informed and cost-effective cooperative collection development and management:

• Cost savings through cooperative collection programs and services, including favorable terms for purchase and licensing of major databases.
• Participation in CRL collection Webinars, workshops, and forums.
• Individualized resource consultations available through CRL’s User Services Liaison
• Participation in JSTOR, ICON, print archiving, and other CRL activities and partnerships.

Contribution to real and abiding societal good: 

• Through their participation and support, CRL libraries make possible the long-term survival, integrity and accessibility of critical and unique documentation of  the world's peoples, societies, and events.