WEST welcomes new member libraries
WEST is very pleased to announce a new consortial membership agreement with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI). Three new libraries join WEST in the first year of this opt-in consortial agreement: Loyola University Chicago, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, and the Galvin Library at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit institution offering undergraduate and graduate programs in Chicago and at their campus in Rome, Italy. The University Libraries hold over 1.1 million print volumes and in 2023 completed a refresh of one of their major commons spaces to support study and collaboration. Loyola University Chicago leaders are also involved in the national effort to overcome barriers to cooperative collections management – the Collaborative Collections Lifecycle Project. We are excited to welcome Loyola University Chicago to WEST and benefit from the University Library’s experience and expertise.
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is a community-based, award-winning medical school. The Medical Library offers a wide range of collections to support advanced research, education, and teaching, including a collection of print and electronic journals. We are particularly excited to welcome another medical library to WEST as our program aims to broaden and diversify the content we retain collectively for the future. With the discontinuation of the National Library of Medicine’s shared print program, MedPrint, in 2021 it is all the more critical to have medical libraries at the table influencing the retention of key medical and health science resources.
The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is the only technology-focused university in Chicago, Illinois. The Galvin Library at IIT combines service and stewardship to drive innovation and effect change. The Galvin Library’s FY24-28 Strategic Plan outlines an exciting balance of assessing and responding to immediate user needs and stewarding physical holdings “with responsive and future-oriented efforts.” We are excited at WEST to work with the Galvin Library to support their strategic directions.
A warm welcome to all!
CARLI is a membership organization for libraries, providing services at scale to Illinois academic and research libraries. CARLI provides value to members libraries and Illinois higher education by freeing dollars within each member organization—including each University of Illinois campus—to do mission-critical work. The University of Illinois System supports CARLI and reaffirms the central role that education and higher education can play in promoting the public good for the entire State of Illinois and beyond.
WEST is a distributed shared print journal archiving program founded in 2010 and hosted by the California Digital Library at the University of California. WEST members collaborate to collectively preserve and provide continued access to print collections in the long-term. This work is rooted in data-driven decision-making and sustainable practices that leverage group action to augment local capacity for strategic collection management and development. WEST continues to welcome new members, seeking to broaden and diversify the range of libraries who shape and contribute to the collection we preserve for the future.
If you are interested in becoming a member of WEST, please email the WEST Program Manager, Alison Wohlers, at alison.wohlers@ucop.edu.