The Hampshire Inter-Library Center (HILC), formally established in 1951, is one of the oldest library consortia in the United States. Its members include the libraries of Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Its records include documentation of library cooperation in this geographical area of western Massachusetts dating back to 1913. From 1951 to 1978 the consortium maintained a shared collection of research material, and the archive includes full documentation of the creation, maintenance and final dispersal of that collection. In 1981, the Five College Library Automation Project inaugurated an integrated library system for the HILC libraries. Its records form the latter part of the series.

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