The Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust is a member organization of 80+ academic and research libraries located from Florida to Maine, dedicated to developing a well-managed, distributed collective collection of scholarly print resources. EAST saves library costs, supports library decision-making, and secures scholarship for the future.
EAST changes the conversation on campuses – from deaccessioning books to working collectively to ensuring the protection of the print scholarly record.
- Membership in EAST assures that unique, scarcely held and frequently used print books and journals will continue to be retained regionally and made accessible to users, even as libraries need to downsize their own local collections.
EAST gives libraries the flexibility and data they need to manage their collections as part of a larger collective collection and reallocate financial resources.
- With the high value of central campus library spaces and the high cost of adding remote storage facilities, membership in EAST gives libraries a “third way” when faced with the choice to withdraw or store collections offsite. Member institutions can readily analyze the uniqueness of their own print holdings, and determine whether other libraries have committed to retaining and sharing them. When EAST libraries have committed to retaining copies, libraries can withdraw their print holdings knowing they are not putting them at risk for preservation and future access.
EAST gives members a strong voice in creating shared print and data networks, expanding collaboration to the national level.
- EAST leads the country in advocating for how libraries share their collective collections. EAST’s advocacy and influence were instrumental in ensuring that sharing data from libraries about their retention commitments is done openly, at no extra cost to libraries. EAST is also partnering to test and develop low-cost models for analyzing libraries’ print holdings, making these services accessible to more libraries and avoiding unnecessary costs both now and in the future.
- As part of the Rosemont Shared Print Alliance, any EAST library can borrow serials and journals from more than 180 other members. And, following best practices from the Partnership for Shared Book Collections, EAST is investigating supporting digitization of books in poor condition to further support both access and preservation.
These points are also available to download as a pdf.