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Shared Print Meetings at ALA Midwinter 2020 (Jan. 24-28, 2020) in Philadelphia, PA

This year’s ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia, PA, includes a number of sessions of interest to the shared print community. The sessions cover a wide range of topics within shared print, including the launch of a new federation of monographic shared print program, updates from existing shared print programs and federations including roundups of 2019 activities and a look ahead at 2020, library inventory projects and their implications for shared print, a presentation on libraries at the network level, and a discussion group about storage facilities. WEST will also be presenting the findings from the 2019 WEST Member Assessment and the outcomes of the strategic planning meeting held in October 2019.

Please note that all times listed below are EST.

Print Archive Network Forum (PAN) – Friday, January 24, 9am-11:30am in Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 103-A

  • This session will include a number of topics of interest to WEST members, including the launch of the Partnership for Shared Book Collections, a federation of monographic shared print programs stretching from Maine to Colorado; updates from the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance as well as OCLC and CRL on the Mellon Foundation-funded work they’re conducting to enhance the shared print infrastructure; presentations from three institutions on managing shared storage facilities, including WEST’s very own University of Missouri; and brief updates on GoldRush analytics for monographs, ReShare, and Big Ten Academic Alliance’s vision for shared collections.

RUSA Shared Collection Interest Group – Saturday, January 25, 8:30am – 10:00am, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 113-C

  • Highlights include a panel discussion on library inventory projects and the implications for the reliability of shared print (with our own, Anna Striker!).

Rosemont Shared Print Alliance Public Informational Meeting – Saturday, January 25, 11am-12pm, Room 401 in Charles Library, Temple University

  • This will be the first public ALA meeting hosted for the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance. The Rosemont Executive and Operations Committees will be hosting this meeting to orient participating program libraries to the work of the Alliance and what’s coming up in the near future, including opportunities to get involved. Attendees will hear from both the outgoing and incoming executive committee chairs, operations committee members (including 2020 Ops Committee chair, WEST Program Manager Alison Wohlers), and will have ample opportunity for questions and discussion. 

Big Shifts: Libraries, Collections, Networks – Saturday, January 25, 3pm-4pm, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 203-AB

  • Lorcan Dempsey will present on “…important changes, identify patterns in library responses, and discuss how they can use trends to their advantage. It will draw on an extensive record of OCLC Research work on the future of libraries, on the shifting boundaries and character of library collections, on research support, on library collaboration, and on the shift to open.” While it is uncertain how much of this presentation will focus specifically on shared print, given Dempsey’s previous publications he will likely touch on it in his discussion.

WEST Member Meeting – Sunday, January 26, 1pm-2:30pm, Philadelphia Marriott, Franklin 1

  • WEST member meetings are open to any interested WEST library staff or individuals outside of the membership who would like to learn more about WEST and shared print. The agenda for this meeting will include a presentation on and discussion of the 2019 WEST Member Assessment results as well as outcomes from the strategic planning session that took place in October. If you’re not able to attend the Member Meeting at ALA MW, we will also be scheduling additional webinars on both of these topics in January, so you will still have the opportunity to engage in these discussions.
  • Please RSVP if you plan on attending! https://cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2019/11/19/update-west-member-meeting-at-ala-midwinter-location-announced-january-26-2020-1-230pm-est-please-rsvp/ 

The LLAMA Storage Discussion Group may also touch on shared print, but these meetings largely focus on operational matters at storage facilities. This meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 26 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM in Room 119-A at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.