The Future of Print

Exploring the impact of print in the digital age

Print is not dead. In this era of digital media, university libraries worldwide are significantly reducing open stack print collections. Vital conversations are needed in the development of new design strategies and methodologies for print curation in the 21st century.

Starting with a planning grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ASU Library developed a vision for a future in which the academic library print collection engages and inspires its communities as never before. Read the white paper: "The Future of the Academic Library Print Collection: A Space for Engagement."

To further this work, the ASU Library received a three-year implementation grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to explore a data-driven and community-aware approach to developing inclusive print collections for the 2020 reopening of Hayden Library, ASU's largest library on the Tempe campus. Read the project report: "Enhancing an Academic Library Renovation Project with Creative Open Stack Print Collections Services."

Principal team members included Lorrie McAllister, principal investigator and former associate university librarian and Shari Laster, head of Open Collections Curation and Access.

Using data to improve engagement

During the grant project, ASU Library adopted a twofold approach to enacting these principles. First, the team explored ways in which data about ASU Library’s collections can be leveraged to answer large-scale questions. With the aim to create meaningful print collections that engage users and add value to the community, the project sought to interpret the data landscape of print resources at Arizona State University and incorporate data-driven selection and assessment methods into collections design processes. The development of Hayden Library’s 4th floor stacks collection represents one of several outputs from this project component.

Secondly, ASU Library sought to identify and explore what "engagement" means with collections at a human scale. Using data as a primary tool to identify and connect library users and print resources, the team pursued further opportunities to design and assess user engagement by testing collections designs in non-traditional environments, curating collections with faculty, student, and community participation, and extending engagement with historically underserved communities. The experimental projects conducted as part of this project component led to the ongoing implementation of ASU Library’s Featured Collections program.

Work continues to move forward efforts with open stack collections, including ASU Library’s openly-accessible digital collections. ASU Library also actively collaborates within shared print archiving communities to find ways to incorporate similar principles into the long-term management of collective print collections.

Serving our communities

Managing library print collections is inseparable from the people who use our collections, along with the people who create, describe, manage and store our collections. ASU Library invites you to take these ideas and principles, and then consider how they may be applied within your local context.

Ultimately, collections serve communities. Designing programs and forming partnerships that engage with library collections are vital to achieving mission objectives and have exciting implications for the future of print collections in libraries.