IMPORTANT UPDATE ON EAST GOVERNANCE – From 2015/16 through May of 2023 EAST was a fiscally sponsored program of the Boston Library Consortium (BLC) and received administrative support, financial services and technical infrastructure from the BLC. In December of 2022 EAST registered as a public charity in Massachusetts and was granted tax exempt status as a 501(c)(3) by the IRS. As of June 1, 2023, EAST has transitioned from its fiscal sponsorship relationship with the BLC and has become an independent organization. Prior to this date, EAST’s primary governance was provided by an elected Executive Committee.
EAST Board of Directors
Primary governance of the Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust (EAST) is provided by the Board of Directors which, per the EAST bylaws, includes 8-11 directors representing the diverse perspectives of the EAST membership. Nominations for Board members are made by the Voting Members which represent the full EAST membership. The Board has fiduciary responsibility for EAST as well as oversight of the EAST strategic directions. The EAST Project Director reports to the Board and manages the Project Team.
The Board maintains two standing executive committees: the Finance Committee, charged with providing oversight of EAST in areas relating to budget, financial planning, internal accounting controls and general financial sustainability; and a Personnel Committee charged with providing oversight and recommendations relating to the staffing of the EAST Project Team.
In addition to the EAST Operations Committee, described below, the Board has appointed a number of Working Groups to oversee collection analysis and validation work as well as more recent work on facilitating inter-library loan across the membership and registration of EAST commitments in national databases such as the Print Archive Preservation Registry (PAPR) and the OCLC WorldCat database.
EAST Operations Committee
The EAST Operations Committee (OC) is a non-executive standing committee which reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for recommending policies and workflows around the operational use of EAST retention commitments within the member libraries. The OC works closely with the EAST Project Team to address operational issues that arise from the membership. Any policy or procedural recommendations from the OC require approval by the EAST Board prior to implementation.
In addition to this standing committee, each EAST member has appointed an Operational Contact to implement the policies and procedures developed by the Operations Committee.
EAST Working Groups
Occasionally, the EAST Board of Directors, Operations Committee, or Project Team will recommend the creation of a working group to address specific questions of interest to the EAST membership. Most recently, as an outcome of the 2020 Program Assessment, the Board approved the creation of the Special Collections, Access, and Collection Analysis Working Groups. These working groups began their work in the Summer and Fall of 2021 and have provided recommendations and guidance in these areas as they intersect with shared print. Please see below for the working groups’ composition and charges.
Special Collections Working Group (Summer - December 2021)
Charge: The Special Collections Working Group is tasked with making recommendations to the EAST Board of Directors regarding expanding the scope of the EAST collection to include print monographs and journals held in special collections locations, including potentially how to handle the transfer of retained circulating items to non-circulating status. These recommendations will be focused on the following: developing criteria for special collections material in-scope for EAST retention, lending and access policies, and producing additional operating policies and procedures required specifically for the management of retained special collections titles. See also the Full Charge.
Members:
Lois Black, Lehigh University
Arthur Carlson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Hannah Davis, Florida State University
Chloe Gerson, Brandeis University
Autumn Haag, University of Rochester
Marianne Hansen, Bryn Mawr College Library
Haven Hawley, University of Florida
Thomas Lannon, Lafayette College
Rebecca Parmer, University of Connecticut
Anne Peale, Williams College
Carolyn Sautter, Gettysburg College
Elizabeth Slomba, University of New Hampshire
Jennifer Walton, MBLWHOI
Access Working Group (September 2021 - May 2022)
Charge: One of the major themes from the 2020 program assessment completed by EAST was a focus on improving/expanding access to EAST retained content, both as returnable print materials via inter-library loan and via digitization of the content. A new Working Group (WG) on Access is being formed to make recommendations to the EAST Operations Committee and/or the EAST Board of Directors. The primary focus on the WG will be on the operational issues associated with maximizing access to the EAST collective collection. See also the Full Charge.
Members:
Ron Figueroa, Syracuse University
Gabe Stowe, Colby College
Stephan Berger, Adelphi University
John Myers, Union College
Rachel Manning, Middlebury College
Rachel Pisciotta, NYU
Mark Canney, Lehigh University
Erika McNeil, University of Connecticut
From the EAST Board of Directors:
Andrew White, Wesleyan University
Matthew Sheehy, Brandeis University
Jennifer Bowen, University of Rochester (emeritus)
Collection Analysis Working Group (September 2021 - May 2022)
Charge: One of the major themes from the 2020 program assessment completed by EAST was a willingness from the vast majority of respondents to make future commitments to retain monographs. Broad collection analysis was seen as the best approach, although there was also interest in focusing exclusively on subject areas important to the institution or only to newly acquired or freshly catalogued materials. In addition, we hope to understand how this collection analysis might impact the outreach EAST should undertake to fulfil its strategic mission and expand access to diverse and inclusive collective collection. To address these points and others, a newly formed Working Group on Collection Analysis is being established. See also the full charge.
Members:
Lynda Aldana, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Nick Ferrelli, Adelphi University
Melissa Gonzalez, University of West Florida
Karen Kohn, Temple University
Teresa Negrucci, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Michael Rodriguez, University of Connecticut
From the EAST Board of Directors:
Peggy Seiden, formerly of Swarthmore College
Boaz Nadav Manes, Lehigh University
Anthony Fonseca, Elms College
Fern Brody, University of Pittsburgh
Interlibrary Loan / Resource Sharing Working Group (2022)
Charge: The reconvened EAST ILL Working Group is tasked with reviewing the existing Best Practices document, including suggestions from the Special Collections Working Group. The Working Group will update the current document as appropriate and provide a Revised ILL Best Practices document that addresses changes in resource sharing and broadens the scope to include special collections material. See also the full charge.
Members:
Angie Batson, Wellesley College
David Perry, Bryn Mawr College
Dzintra Lacis, Brandeis University
Erika McNeil, University of Connecticut
Ethan Powers, Mount Holyoke College
Lois Black, Lehigh University
Peggy Glatthaar, Florida Gulf Coast University
Rachel Manning, Middlebury College
Rebecca Parmer, University of Connecticut
Shelly Schmucker, Florida State University
Previous Working Groups
Over the years, EAST has also convened other working groups. Please note that the links below point to static sites that are no longer updated.