The Central Iowa Collaborative Collections Initiative (CI-CCI), a shared print consortium, was established in the summer of 2013 when Central College, Drake University, Grand View University, Grinnell College and Simpson College signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the initiative. CI-CCI welcomed the University of Northern Iowa in November 2014 and both Buena Vista University and St. Ambrose University in late 2019.

Drake University Buena Vista University Central College Grand View University Grinnell College Simpson College St. Ambrose University University of Northern Iowa

CI-CCI Foundational Goals

  1. To responsibly reduce the size of local print collections by reducing duplication among the participating libraries so that library space may be freed up for other uses.
  2. To create and maintain a distributed, shared collection of these titles to ensure that circulating copies of them are retained within the group.
  3. To coordinate acquisitions with the goal of developing a shared collection among the participants to reduce duplication and to leverage acquisition funds.
  4. To establish an environment where exploration and additional areas of collaboration can flourish.

Shared Collection Development

As in most shared print initiatives, each CI-CCI library is able to free space for more pressing local and institutional needs such as study space, learning commons, classrooms, etc. Additionally, the CI-CCI initiative focuses on shared collection development to allow the participants to make better use of acquisitions dollars. By using a common ordering interface and acquisition vendor, member institutions may determine which titles have already been added to the shared collection through acquisition by another library; eliminating the need to duplicate book purchases.

Because all retention items in the shared collection have been physically verified by the holding library or are current purchases, each library can offer a greater depth of materials with the assurance that items will be available to their users well into the future.

Beyond Shared Print

Additionally, by emphasizing exploration, CI-CCI has laid the foundation for expanded collaboration beyond shared print. For example, the consortium has seen success in the area of shared eBook EBA.