Shared Print Monographs: Emerging Trends PAN Forum/ALA Annual Chicago June 28, 2013

The Problem Stacks are overcrowded Use of print books is low and declining Library space is wanted for other purposes Print redundancy is significant The cost of keeping books on shelves is high Alternatives exist, but data is scattered Traditional approaches to deselection are costly and time-consuming Sustainablecollections.com2

Monographs are different Higher numbers Low yield per decision Stronger emotional attachment Less acceptance of screen-based reading for long-form material Physical delivery is a larger factor

Two strategies Independent action in a collective context Formal shared print programs (collaborative activity and decisions)

Independent action in a collective context Sustainablecollections.com5

Shared Print Monographs Initiatives Maine Shared Collection Strategy Michigan Shared Print Initiative (MI-SPI) California State University LOFT Connect New York Tri-University Group (Ontario) Central Iowa Collaborative Collections Initiative Washington Research Library Collection (WRLC) FLARE (Florida), GWLA, SCELC Northeast Regional Library Print Management Project Sustainablecollections.com6

Sharing Pros Buy-in; safety in numbers Amortization of retention costs Reaffirms the library ethic Makes sense, especially for low-demand material

Sharing Cons Adds complexity Divergent data and systems Multiple, sometimes conflicting objectives Shared decisions take more time

The Arc of a Project Origins: Vision, Mandate, Goals Communication, Project Management & Decision-Making Group Policies: the Memorandum of Understanding Data Wrangling for Shared Print Sharing the Benefits & Monitoring Progress What does success in shared print look like?

Strong preferences: print, self-sufficiency Sustainablecollections.com10

Strategic issues Slow build (small groups) vs. grand vision (mega- regions) Data scales more easily than communication & decision-making Discovery & delivery loom large, even if material is unlikely to be used We are just beginning this work