The Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) was established as a non-profit corporation in 1987 to support research and instructional capabilities of eight universities in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. It included the implementation of a telecommunications network linking all eight universities and their offsite campuses to an online database of 2.6 million library records and other information databases. Paul Vassallo was the first president and CEO of the non-profit. It is affiliated with the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. WRLC aims to do this through expanding coordination between different research libraries in the area. Major services they provide include operation of a shared online catalog, hosting an annual meeting for people involved in DC-Area research libraries, and providing environmentally controlled additional storage space for books and other media. The executive director as of 2022 was Mark Jacobs.

Member universities

• American University • The Catholic University of America • Gallaudet University • George Mason University • The George Washington University • Georgetown University • Howard University (joined in 2012) • Marymount University • University of the District of Columbia