The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
run-time library
A file containing
routines which are linked with a program at run time rather
than at compile-time. The advantage of such dynamic
linking is that only one copy of the library needs to be
stored, rather than a copy being included with each
executable that refers to it. This can greatly reduce the
disk space occupied by programs. Furthermore, it means that
all programs immediately benefit from changes (e.g. bug
fixes) to the single copy of the library without requiring
recompilation. Since the library code is normally classified
as read-only to the memory management system, it is possible
for a single copy of the library to be loaded into memory and
shared by all active programs, thus reducing RAM and
virtual memory requirements and program load time.
(1997-07-16)