Joanne Halgren founded the Northwest Interlibrary Loan and Resource Sharing Conference Planning Committee in 2000 while serving as the ILL Librarian at the University of Oregon Libraries. Joanne addressed regional demand for ILL professional development by creating affordable and accessible training opportunities that included presentations and workshops for the ILL community. The first NWILL Conference took place in 2002.

NWILL has since grown into a nonprofit organization that supports the interlibrary loan community in a variety of ways. NWILL offers professional development programs, networking events, scholarships, exhibitor demonstrations, and more. In 2025, NWILL held a hybrid conference attended by more than 400 people from across the United States and awarded more than $2,000 in professional development scholarships.