Choice for cooperative collection development

Abstract

Book reviews from Choice, proximity, automation, and committed personnel are the bases for a cooperative collection development project among the Tri-College University Consortium libraries at Moorhead, Minnesota, and Fargo, North Dakota. The purpose of the project is to provide more titles for users of the Consortium libraries without compromising collection quality. Librarians at each library make selections from each issue of Choice, prioritize them, compare them, and decide which library should purchase each selection. The ongoing project, in existence for 15 years, currently diverts more than $59,000 annually to additional purchases. This study concludes that when automation, close proximity, and committed personnel are available, cooperative collection development based on Choice reviews is a worthwhile project and that cooperative collection development as a part of resource sharing is the best way to serve the library needs of the Tri-College University Consortium.