2015 Charleston Library Conference

Librarians at the Bailey/Howe Library of the University of Vermont found themselves in an entirely new, if not unique, situation. Facing nearly unprecedented budget reductions and a liaison program bent towards research consultations and information literacy instruction (and not collection development), Bailey/Howe librarians embraced a spirit of collaboration and information sharing by developing a new evaluation and input-gathering project to engage liaisons and make more informed renewal and cancellation decisions.

The collection development librarian worked closely with the liaison program director to educate liaisons, in collections topics such as database usage statistics and subscription pricing, and design an evaluation project targeting the library’s electronic resources. The project goal was to holistically gather liaison feedback for improved decision-making and identify potential cancellation candidates in a cooperative manner, but provided an added opportunity for bridge-building between library departments.

Although budget reductions are an unfortunate, yet common, reality in most academic libraries, the approach taken by Bailey/Howe librarians laid a foundation for collaborative collection development and liaison engagement. This session will describe that approach and how it shaped the entire project. The presenter will outline her process of educating and sharing information with liaisons, and using evaluation criteria as part of a ranking system to gather feedback. Attendees can expect to get ideas for their own collection evaluation and learn one way to include liaisons in the process. Audience members will be encouraged to participate during the Q&A section and share local methods used to achieve similar goals.