Indianapolis, IN, January 14, 2021  – The Partnership for Shared Book Collections (The Partnership), a federation of monograph shared print programs, and the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance (Rosemont Alliance), a collaboration of regional programs focused on preserving print serials and journals, are pleased to announce the growth and expansion of collaboration in shared print in North America.  The Center for Research Libraries (CRL), where students, faculty, and researchers at over 200 member institutions benefit from a wealth of scholarly resources in CRL collections, has joined both The Partnership and the Rosemont Alliance. In addition, Virginia’s Academic Library Consortium, VIVA, has joined The Partnership, bringing 71 institutions of higher education to advance the vision of ensuring access and preservation to the book content of North America. To provide project management heft to 

The Partnership, the organization also announced the selection of Sara Amato to be the organization’s first Program Coordinator. 

In commenting on the decision to join The Partnership and the Rosemont Alliance, Greg Eow, President of the Center for Research Libraries, indicated: “One of the most important and challenging issues facing the academy today is how to responsibly steward print collections now and in the future. Our three organizations believe in the power of community to address shared challenges and leverage shared opportunities; our partnership is a natural and exciting alliance that will benefit the entire research enterprise.”  

Judy Russell, Dean of University Libraries at the University of Florida and outgoing Chair of the Rosemont Alliance Executive Committee, added “Since its initial founding, the Rosemont Alliance has focused on collective action in responsibly stewarding serials and journals in libraries across the United States.  A number of the Rosemont Alliance member programs have worked with CRL on collection analysis initiatives in the past and we look forward to further collaboration with CRL.  They are an important partner in improving our ability to work at scale to preserve these valuable resources for the scholarly community.”

Anne Osterman, Director of VIVA, added: “To make a real impact with shared print, libraries need to think big and act together.  VIVA is excited to join The Partnership for Shared Books Collections and is deeply supportive of its work to enable a collaborative and comprehensive collection of print books that supports scholarship now and into the future.”

To further its ambitious agenda, the Executive Committee of The Partnership has hired Sara Amato as its inaugural Program Coordinator.  Sara is responsible for working with governing bodies and members to further the mission of ensuring lasting access to print scholarly resources for generations to come.  Daniel Dollar, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources at Yale University and a member of the search committee said: “Sara brings a wealth of experience in shared print to The Partnership based on her work with the Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust and the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance.  Her project management and organizational skills combine with this experience to best ensure The Partnership continues to push forward our strategic goals and objectives.”

Says Kirsten Leonard, Chair of The Partnership Executive Committee and Executive Director of the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI): “We are making strides in our organizational structure that will enable this group of shared print programs to address the large-scale challenges we face.” These challenges include managing costs, advocating for the retention and access of collections both physically and through controlled digital lending, and supporting the preservation of collections that reflect diverse populations. Leonard says, “One of the most critical objectives is to create a method of data analysis and process to identify at risk collections as institutions face increased financial pressures.” 

About the Partnership for Shared Book Collections

The Partnership for Shared Book Collections is a federation of monograph shared print programs in the U.S. and Canada whose mission is to ensure the long-term preservation of, access to, and integrity of monographic print resources. The Partnership supports both established and fledgling monograph shared print programs by coordinating collaboration for the protection of print books. Through the development of best practices, support of research on the risks to the loss of the print scholarly record, and advocacy for improving the infrastructure to support shared print, the Partnership identifies work that can be done collectively to advance mission-critical services while saving time and money locally. The Partnership invites established and nascent shared print programs to  join the federation and to use the resources available on the website: http://sharedprint.org. 

About the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance

The Rosemont Shared Print Alliance is a collaboration of regional programs interested in coordinating their efforts on a larger scale to ensure the retention of and access to print journal backfiles. Rosemont was founded in 2015 by representatives of the Big 10 Academic Alliance, the FLorida Academic REpository (FLARE), ScholarsTrust, and the Western Regional Storage Trust (WEST).  The Eastern Academic Libraries’ Scholars Trust (EAST) joined the Rosemont Alliance in 2017, and most recently CRL joined in early 2021. Working collaboratively, these programs are significantly growing the collection of serials and journals currently being retained and archived by libraries as well as developing shared policies and standards.  See https://rosemontsharedprintalliance.org for more information.

About the Center for Research Libraries

The Center for Research Libraries is an international consortium of university, college, and independent research libraries collectively building, stewarding, and sharing a wealth of resource materials from all world regions to support inspired research and teaching. CRL’s deep and diverse collections are shaped by specialists at major U.S. and Canadian research universities, who work together to identify and preserve collections and content, to ensure its long-term integrity and accessibility to researchers worldwide.

About VIVA 

VIVA is the consortium of nonprofit academic libraries within the Commonwealth of Virginia. Members include all of the 39 state-assisted colleges and universities (six doctoral universities, nine 4-year institutions, and 24 community and two-year branch colleges), as well as 31 of the nonprofit independent institutions, and the Library of Virginia. VIVA’s mission is to provide, in an equitable, cooperative and cost-effective manner, enhanced access to library and information resources for Virginia’s nonprofit academic libraries serving the higher education community.