Buying in Bulk Saves Libraries Money

The concept behind warehouse shopping, buy in bulk and save money, also works for libraries. The Harold B. Lee Library belongs to several consortia where we pool some of our resources. When we buy in bulk we get more for our money. Instead of paying for one database we may gain access to several for the same funds. This is great news for many disciplines where each individual school might have a small department that wouldn’t justify purchasing rights to large amounts of resources. The combined departments all benefit from working together. For example, one institution might have a medical school and a large school of nursing. Other institutions with smaller nursing programs gain rich access to resources that they otherwise might struggle to obtain.

It is important to remember that, regardless of the subject, while library resources are free for faculty and students, it costs money to provide access to the many scholarly resources they access online. Our librarians work diligently to provide the best materials at the lowest cost. You can learn more about some of the groups we belong to by visiting the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and the Consortium of Church Libraries and Archives (CCLA).