Developing a consortial shared approval plan for monographs

The libraries of the four CONSORT Colleges (Denison University, Kenyon College, Ohio Wesleyan University, and The College of Wooster) are working together to build a broader collection of library materials with less duplication. One mechanism has been the creation of a shared approval plan, developed in partnership with their approval plan vendor, YBP Library Services. Both the libraries and the vendor faced opportunities and challenges in developing a plan that would be easy to implement, accommodate the various internal selection and acquisitions procedures, maximize the use of vendor services, and support the project goal. The lessons learned and the methodologies developed by this experimental project provide a promising model for monographic cooperative collection projects in a consortial setting.