Q. What is CRL’s core mission?
A: CRL member libraries build, steward, and share deep and diverse collective collections and content – analog and digital – to extend and complement their local collections. By working together, across a wide variety of institutional settings, we collectively build an equitable collection and shared infrastructure – at scale – all the while containing local costs for CRL member libraries.
Q. Where do area studies and global collections fit in?
A: From the beginning, global collections have been central to CRL, and we are proud of our history as a center for area studies librarianship. Area studies librarians have been pioneers in cross-institutional collaboration, and their contributions, over many decades, have made CRL a vigorous hub of inter-institutional cooperation before the term “collective collection” was in use.
Q. Why is CRL making a recommitment to its global collections activities?
A: The CRL membership expects it. In 2020, the CRL Collections and Services Policy Committee conducted a survey to capture the priorities of CRL members. The survey confirmed that CRL members expect CRL to collect, preserve, and disseminate global collections and content, and continue to serve as a hub for international partnerships and collaboration.
Q. How do the current AMP and GRN programs fit in?
A: We are integrating administrative support for CRL’s global programs to better sustain the programs and align their activity with CRL’s core mission to cooperatively build, preserve, and share global collections with its members. We see tremendous opportunity in establishing stronger integration across the variety of CRL global collections activities, so we leverage CRL’s unique scale, maximize our collective impact, and foster a global knowledge commons in line with the values of research librarianship.
Q. Can you provide an example of the benefits of integrating efforts?
A: In May 2019, CRL was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Grant to partner with several Mexican institutions to establish a human rights documentation repository. Neither of CRL’s two Latin American hosted programs – LARRP and LAMP – were directly involved in the planning or the management of this grant. That is a missed opportunity. The good news: CRL retains money to close out this grant, and we wish to involve our global program community to help on the final phase of this work. The point: we are missing opportunities because of the fragmented nature of our current structures, and we will be stronger and more impactful working together in more coordinated ways.
Q. Are there other benefits to integration?
A: Yes, it will address pain points in CRL’s back-of-office operations. The administrative and logistical overhead associated with CRL administering a dozen functionally independent programs is unworkable. Our hosted programs run a wide variety of activities requiring CRL administrative support, including 1) independent membership and dues structures, 2) separate access services policies to program collections (some not available to CRL members), 3) independent governance structures, 4) speaker and event series, and 5) legal review for international agreements and licensing. The lack of integration of the programs with CRL policies and the back-of-office operations result in classic system design problems that we can solve, but only through designing stronger integration between CRL’s operations and its hosted programs.
Q. Are there other reasons this change must happen?
A: Yes. We must resolve the ambiguous legal relationship between CRL and the hosted programs. Whether the programs are fully a part of CRL, or CRL is a fiscal agent for the programs, or CRL is a fiscal sponsor for the programs, will determine best practices for fiscal management, reporting, and compliance.
Q. How can the AMPs and GRN Programs get involved?
A: In Spring 2024, CRL’s new Director for Global Collections, Kevin Merriman, is conducting a whirlwind tour, traveling to attend AMP and GRN meetings, holding open office hours, and engaging with stakeholders. In addition, we are in the early stages of planning a two-day retreat at CRL in the summer of 2024, in order to bring together representatives from the AMPs, GRNs, CRL staff, and CRL committees to collaborate on the design of CRL global collections and services activities. We are stronger working together.
Q. What is the Division model?
A: The Division model is a proposed administrative structure through which CRL can conduct its global collection development activity with the direct participation of the area studies experts in the CRL community. We aim to pilot funding for the Division model in FY25, meaning that there will be no separate member fee and that the collections budget will come from central funds. Building global collections is too important to CRL's mission to fund it through the individual dues structures of the hosted programs - it deserves dedicated and sustained central support.
Q. Does the Division model “flatten” area expertise?
A: No. The Division model maintains the geographic/area studies framework. Although it has limitations, and despite the theoretical shift from “area studies” to “global studies,” region specific expertise remains essential, e.g. linguistic, historical, regional, and knowledge of the relevant publishing landscape.
Q. Does maintaining the geographic/area studies framework prevent cross-regional collaborations in line with a “global studies” approach?
A: We anticipate cross-Divisional collaborations and additional frameworks which will allow for thematic approaches to CRL’s global collections, services, and professional development activities.
Q. How many Divisions will there be?
A: At our September 2023 community convening, representatives of the CRL global collections community – including staff, committee members, and representatives from the global programs – proposed the establishment of eight Divisions, each focused on a different world region. The CRL Board approved the Division model in principle, but will let the CRL staff, working with the wider community, determine what Divisions we establish and what they are named.
Q. Can the AMPs and/or GRNs transition into a Division model, receive CRL funding to support activities that build CRL collections, and use the Division as a base to continue to make wider connections beyond CRL?
A: We would love that.
Q. Can the AMPs and/or GRNs choose another administrative host?
A: Yes. If program autonomy is what is most desired, there exist alternative organizations which specialize in providing fiscal sponsor hosting services. CRL's membership model is predicated on cooperative collection development, preservation, and resource sharing. For reasons of history, community, and values alignment, we view CRL as the natural home (not host) for the AMPs and GRNs. We wish to align the AMPs and GRNs with CRL's collection development activity and put the programs at the center of what we do. We can also explore ways for CRL to continue to host current programs that do not directly build CRL's collections, but which conduct work that strongly complements CRL's services and mission such that it is mutually beneficial for the program to remain at CRL. However, we can also help programs explore hosting arrangements, assess costs, and assist with a move.
Q: Who is the CRL contact to answer questions related to CRL Global Collections activities?
A: Kevin Merriman, Director of Global Collections, is main point of contact.
updated March 2024