When more than 100 participants met in Manchester, UK for the first international conference on joint use libraries, June 17‐21, 2007, the theme of the conference papers addressed the many potential partnership options open to multiple libraries seeking a solution to affordable, high‐quality and convenient library service. As indicated by Joacim Hansson (Sweden), joint use libraries “can be seen as a completely unique form of library which can take many shapes and guises depending on what forms of libraries provide the foundation of it”. Thus, many of the papers offered examples of the public/public, public/academic, and public/private partnerships that could be developed into full‐service joint use facilities.
Through the presentation of numerous papers offered at the conference (26 in all), one overriding concern was clear; that the participants were as eager and excited to present their own individual case studies and experiences as it was to listen to the experiences of others.
Leading the charge and presenting the first paper in this volume is Proceedings editor and principal consultant for Auslib Library Consulting in Australia, Alan Bundy, who offers a paper entitled, Widening Horizons: Joint Use Libraries and South Australia's Unique System of Rural School Community Libraries. In this paper Mr Bundy indicates that, “There are now over 120 (joint use libraries in Australia), mostly in schools in rural communities with populations of 3,500 or less.” The paper is as much a call to action for increased funding and validation of joint use libraries as it is a history of these institutions. The tone of the paper serves as justification for a wider vision to recognize the value of such libraries and the benefit they provide to the residents of the communities in which they reside.
This theme resonates throughout the Proceedings as numerous presenters confirm the development of joint use libraries as partnerships that can provide, in the words of presenters, Lesley Hardman and Ann Melmoth (UK), “seamless services, customer access, local delivery and (most of all) shared resources”. Across Europe, presenter, Agapi‐Stamoulia Ployzou (Greece) also indicates strong support for such projects in light of “oncoming community support (for the) development of new services” such as joint use libraries.
While the terms, sharing, partnership, enhanced access, integration, and the like are used quite frequently throughout the Proceedings, this is, by no means, a pie‐in‐the‐sky vision of such institutions. There is, in fact, a great deal of realistic analysis of why, even among the successes, the challenges remain. Presenter Patricia T. Bauer (USA) presents a report on the challenge of staffing the joint use library and “offers insights that could guide planners of future collaborative ventures … ” With the issues of work hours, duties, work flows and responsibilities firmly in the minds of the staff who will be employed in the facility, there is much for developers to consider prior to implementation of a final project plan, not the least of which is the ongoing and constant flow of communication between the development team and the entire staff.
The challenge of financing such a project is also prominent in many of the papers presented in these Proceedings. While presenter Harriett MacDougall (USA) cautions, “…both parties to the agreement must have anticipated the need for financial readiness”, other presenters also indicate that the financial issues must addressed specifically and fairly, and regularly, so there is no misunderstanding between the partners. With that said, the partners will indeed spend a great deal of time in their planning ironing out the specifics of project estimates, who funds what, how staff are compensated, how the materials' budget is developed, etc. There is general agreement in the presentations that the time spent engaged in these discussions by the partners will be time well spent.
Overall, the sense of the Proceedings suggests an upbeat approach to a complicated topic. Any library administrator who has been through the slings and arrows of a building project can expect to maintain that anxiety level and more when entering into the development of a joint use library. This volume succeeds in presenting a real‐world view of the issues one is guaranteed to face in such a project. Therefore, this volume is highly recommended to any library administrator contemplating such a venture. After all, as presented by Hilary Jackson (UK), “…libraries are recognized as good partners, employing people with a can do attitude”.
