NEWS RELEASE: The Cooper Union Joins Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation (PALCI)
August 1, 2022
DREXEL HILL, PA — In July, the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation (PALCI) welcomed The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art in New York City, to the consortium’s membership of 71 academic and research libraries.
By joining, The Cooper Union gains access to PALCI’s strategic collaborative collections initiatives, its well-known EZBorrow consortial interlibrary lending platform and service, as well as PALCI’s professional network and expertise sharing across this unique regional academic library community.
“Joining PALCI was one of the easiest decisions I’ve had to make as director. Its reputation for delivering thoughtful and innovative services across institutions is well-known, and the value PALCI membership brings to The Cooper Union community is undeniable,” shared Lisa Norberg, Director of the Cooper Union Library.
When asked why libraries join PALCI, Jill Morris, PALCI Executive Director noted that, “By joining PALCI, institutions gain access to efficient collections sharing opportunities that are unattainable when going it alone. Through EZBorrow, library patrons can search and request books and other materials from PALCI libraries’ shared inventory which represents more than 46 million items collectively. Requests are delivered in an average of about five days, about the same turnaround time as ordering online through commercial services. PALCI helps libraries to be even more effective in accomplishing their missions through sharing.”
In the coming weeks, The Cooper Union Library staff will begin working with PALCI and the consortium’s service providers to plan the technical aspects of the library’s EZBorrow implementation, as well as the training and onboarding of library staff, with a launch date to be determined and announced later this year. “PALCI membership will enable us to expand access to resources that support student and faculty research more fully and to share our own unique collections with the broader research community, ” adds Norberg. “We are genuinely excited about everything PALCI membership offers—from resources sharing and consortial purchasing to professional development and networking opportunities. Our staff may be small, but we are all eager to engage, learn and contribute to the PALCI community of libraries.”
Formerly known as the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc., PALCI has an expanded membership across the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia. Its members include small, private liberal arts colleges and very large public and private institutions working together to harness the power and scale of this large and diverse collaboration.
To explore how PALCI supports academic and research libraries in Pennsylvania and the surrounding geographic region, visit https://palci.org/membership.
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About The Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper, prepares talented students to make enlightened contributions to society through outstanding academic programs in architecture, art and engineering. The institution provides a challenging, interactive curriculum with distinguished, creative faculty and fosters rigorous, humanistic learning in a dynamic setting. For more information, visit cooper.edu.
About PALCI
PALCI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization, which originated in 1996 as the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc., a grassroots federation of 35 academic libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Known today as the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation, the PALCI membership now consists of more than 70 academic and research libraries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia. PALCI’s mission is to enable cost-effective and sustainable access to information resources and services for academic libraries in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. PALCI is well known for its highly-regarded EZBorrow consortial ILL service. PALCI members partner to serve over 800,000 students, faculty, and staff, with a particular focus on collaborative collections programs, resource sharing services, and innovative technology projects and approaches to library services. For more information contact jill@palci.org or visit palci.org.
