Joint-use Library Research Articles

Joint-Use Libraries

The University/College Library at Broward Community College Central Campus is a joint-use library serving the users of Broward Community College and Florida Atlantic University-Broward. This full service academic library has been in operation since 1994 in a new facility and with a joint governing board that includes all partners. The combination of resources by the partners has provided a workable solution to the problems of providing needed library services and access to materials for the users. There are advantages and disadvantages to such a solution which need to be understood and accepted by the partners as compromise and adjustments are necessary to make the whole a positive working solution.

Joint-Use Libraries

Harmony Library in Fort Collins, Colorado, is a joint-use library built and operated by Front Range Community College and the City of Fort Collins. In planning this library, the partners carefully crafted a common vision and then examined their own libraries and expectations, identifying the areas in which they needed to maintain control and those in which they could operate less independently. Using examples from over four years of experience at Harmony Library, the author shows how balancing the need for control with the opportunities for cooperation is an ongoing, delicate process enhanced by constant communication and coordination.