Best Practices for Community and Trust Building

Introduction

In order for a Shared Print Program (SPP) to be successful, it needs to trust that its member libraries live up to the expectations and commitments that they made when it signed its onboarding agreement or MOU. By the same token, an SPP has to earn the trust of its member libraries, both to keep them as members and to build its reputation so that non-member libraries want to join. This trust building has to occur not only with the leaders of current and potential member libraries, but at the rank-and-file level. For example, library directors may need to get their collection development teams, in order to take full advantage of SPPs, to trust that an SPP membership would lead to rational weeding and reasonable collaborative acquisitions. At the institutional level, member libraries have to trust that their SPP guarantees that all other member libraries live up to their agreements, since the preservation of the scholarly record is truly a team effort, and what one library does affects all member libraries; trust building also involves institution-to-institution trust. This Best Practices document suggests various criteria that are necessary for community building among member libraries and trust building between member libraries and SPPs. It does not address program-to-program trust building, as that is beyond its scope and is covered in the Best Practices for Shared Print Program Partnerships document.

Best Practices – Programs

To follow Best Practices for Community and Trust Building, Shared Print Programs should do the following:

Have a clear, detailed MOU or agreement that outlines what is expected of each member library. See Best Practices for Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs).
Offer member libraries opportunities to engage in governance through leadership opportunities (e.g., governing boards) and regular meetings.
Provide opportunities for members to express their ideas and feedback. Listen and respond in a timely fashion to those comments.
Make consistent decisions based on statistics and evidence. Always follow through with any decisions or tasks (i.e., earn a reputation for dependability).
Assess annually by getting member feedback via meetings, surveys, and focus groups, and report this assessment via annual reports and strategic plans. See Best Practices for Program Assessment.
Support member libraries when they lack staffing skills. Offer professional development and training resources. Offer to connect members with other members who have the skills (or at least the same ILS).
Have an open-door policy for communication. Be approachable and relatable, especially when there is a need to respect the time and staffing pressure of member libraries.
Engage in shared print education (See Best Practices for Shared Print Programs Education and Awareness) and promote awareness by creating downloadable written documents that are informative (and show progress), as well as multimedia files.
Clearly state the cost benefit, risk, and program impact (See Investigating the Cost and Value of Shared Print (ROI)) for member libraries, especially on how the program makes it easier for member libraries to achieve goals that they would not be able to do individually or makes it possible for member libraries to complete tasks more quickly or in a more cost effective manner.
Be transparent in communications. Create public-facing information on important issues (e.g., storage facilities, lending policies, cooperative inventory, life of commitment schedule).
Articulate your shared print program’s role among national or international programs and the Collections Lifecycle.
Have policies and procedures in place that encourage all member libraries to adhere to their commitments and other agreements. If they are unable to adhere to commitments or other agreements, advise on the best course of action.
Adhere to metadata standards and, for serials, standards for level of holdings detail.
Have policies and procedures in place for the transfer of physical holdings when necessary. Refer to the Best Practices for Transferring Commitments or Materials when necessary.
Follow best practices for expansion, both in terms of adding new members and also expanding the scope of materials being retained. NOTE: This may be covered in a future BP
Engage in policies and procedures that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion values.
Periodically confirm contacts at member libraries, and onboard any new contacts.

Best Practices – Member Libraries

To follow Best Practices for Community and Trust Building, Member Libraries should do the following:

Make sure all involved staff (Collections, Cataloging, Resources Sharing, and Circulation) are familiar with the SPP MOU and all agreements that outline what is expected of your library, especially responsibilities (including registration of commitments, metadata standards, lending practices, and method of withdrawal), commitment period, and responsibilities if commitments go missing.
Train all involved staff in how to identify commitments to guard against accidental withdrawal.
If your staff have not been trained in necessary skills (e.g., registration of commitments, metadata standards), have them engage in professional development and with training resources or connect with staff of other members who have the skills (or at least the same ILS).
If your staff possesses skills, have them offer to help and/or mentor other member library’s staff members.
Teach your staff about shared print education (See Best Practices for Shared Print Programs Education and Awareness) and promote awareness by holding regular presentations/updates and making downloadable written documents that are informative (and show progress), as well as multimedia files created by the SPP, accessible.
Be transparent in communications. Make sure your staff understand the important issues (e.g., storage facilities, lending policies, cooperative inventory, life of commitment schedule).
Take opportunities to engage in governance through leadership opportunities (e.g., governing boards) and regular meetings.
Regularly express feedback.
Attend meetings, respond to surveys, and join focus groups.
Adhere, whenever possible, to your commitments and other agreements.
Adhere, whenever possible, to metadata standards and, for serials, standards for level of holdings detail.
Have policies and procedures in place for the transfer of physical holdings when necessary.
Engage in policies and procedures that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion values.
Contact your SPP when your contacts change, and onboard any new contacts.

Additional Resources

The Partnership for Shared Book Collections Toolkit Group. “Starting or Joining a Shared Print Program” (contains some criteria for SPP agreements that increase trust):
https://toolkit.sharedprint.org/participationgovernance/joining#h.y42kfxqmz8vq

The Rosemont Shared Print Alliance and the Partnership for Shared Book Collections Advocacy Working Group. “Weeding Communication in the Collections Lifecycle” (contains useful information about communications, and things to avoid that can undermine trust): Weeding Communication in the Collections Lifecycle.pdf

Last Updated May 2023