Together we are stronger: A cooperative approach to managing print collections

Maine Shared Collections Strategy (MSCS) is a collaborative library project seeking to create a model for the long-term preservation and management of legacy print collections. Amongst the many challenges facing libraries is the increasing cost of housing legacy print collections together with the lack of funding to build new stacks. Users expect libraries to devote increased room to social space for more active use, but also expect that they will still have the same access to information resources. Libraries also feel pressure to responsibly steward sizable, historic print collections. There are also growing opportunities to provide E-book-On-Demand and Print-On-Demand services via large scale e-book collections such as the HathiTrust, which allow libraries to rethink the management and delivery of their collections. These tasks exceed the capacity of any single library or organization. The MSCS multi-type library partners have taken a cooperative approach to facing the challenges and opportunities of managing legacy print collections. This paper will focus on the cooperation required in: • Extracting and using data for collections analysis. Which data are available and useful and the challenges of comparing multi-type libraries, particularly when attempting subject analysis. • Establishing the selection criteria for print titles to be retained, managed, and preserved, as well as titles that could be de-accessioned due to availability and/or preservation in a large-scale digital collection. • Displaying shared retention decisions in shared catalogs. • Implementing a centralized, shared solution to EOD and POD, incorporating large-scale digital collections (HathiTrust and Internet Archive). • Developing a business model and Memorandum Of Understanding for sharing the responsibility long-term stewardship of print collections.