Transforming Print: Collection Development and Management for Our Connected Future

In this book, collection management staff at academic libraries will find fertile ideas for transforming print collections to become more engaging and widely used by the diverse communities they serve.

The trend in academic library collections is toward shared print collections and off-site storage. While that might seem to presage the death of print in academic collections, it also serves as a golden opportunity for innovation and experimentation—to develop a vision for a future in which the academic library print collection engages and inspires its communities as never before. Editors McAllister and Laster led Arizona State University’s Future of Print project, an initiative focused on fostering engagement with print collections by emphasizing unique local holdings of interest to their community. In this collection they share their experiences alongside a range of contributors at other institutions, together exploring how to transform print throughout the collections lifecycle, from selection to management to disposition. Spotlighting the ways in which people and books are central to fulfilling the library’s educational mission, this book’s case studies discuss

• the "Open Stacks" concept and methodologies being developing at ASU;
• what we can learn from browsing behaviors;
• haptic learning and information literacy;
• new pathways for print collections such as indie tarot decks;
• Latin American collections in American research libraries;
• the St. Louis Model for Shared Regional collection as an approach for arranging cooperative FDLP collections outside consortial settings;
• efforts toward increasing inclusion in library collections  at the University of Denver;
• an overview of the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance and the Partnership for Shared Book Collections; and
• an open digital future for the Library of Congress.