Based on recommendations from the Shared Collections & Print Management Task Force and ongoing work by the Collaborative Collection Committee, PASCAL has joined the Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust (EAST) as a consortial member, with 17 PASCAL members participating as Retention Partners.
Read the press release on the EAST website.
In July 2023, the PASCAL Board of Directors approved funding to support this initiative. The board considers this an important initiative that supports the first goal in our strategic agenda: “Enhance, preserve, and provide universal access to print and electronic information resources to member libraries,” and responds directly to objective 1.3 in our strategic agenda: “Empower libraries to leverage institutional and shared resources through efforts that support collaborative collection management initiatives and to enhance access to a statewide academic library collection…” The funding approved by the Board will cover the cost of the initial three-year membership dues for all participating libraries and the one-time cost for a collection overlap analysis for Retention Partners via the Gold Rush analysis tool.
The following institutions have committed to participate in the project as Retention Partners:
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Anderson University
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Lander University
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Charleston Southern University
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South Carolina State University
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The Citadel
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Spartanburg Methodist College
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Clemson University
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University of South Carolina*
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Coastal Carolina University
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University of South Carolina Beaufort
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College of Charleston
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University of South Carolina Upstate
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Converse University
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Winthrop University
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Francis Marion University
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Wofford College
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Furman University
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*Includes School of Law & School of Medicine
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In addition to these 17 Retention Partners, 22 other member libraries have committed to join EAST as Consortia Supporting Partners, allowing them to participate, along with the Retention Partners, in the EAST lending network.
Advantages of participating in EAST include:
- Experience with process and analysis tools
- A base collection for comparison
- Extended resource sharing opportunities
Opportunities for libraries participating in PASCAL’s EAST Consortial Membership include:
- The ability to make informed decisions about library space
- The ability to make informed collection development decisions, both locally and consortially
- The opportunity to focus more on local collection building, including diversifying collections
- The expansion of access to resources through resource sharing
