The University Libraries are always looking for the most reliable and productive ways to ensure that we have the informational and research materials needed for all students, faculty, and researchers.   As new members of the Eastern Academic Scholars’ Trust (EAST), the URI Libraries joins over “… 80 academic and research libraries located from Florida to Maine, dedicated to developing a well-managed, distributed collective collection of scholarly print resources. EAST saves library costs, supports library decision-making, and secures scholarship for the future.”  Our membership in EAST safeguards access to additional print resources for the entire University community.

Michael Cerbo the Chair of Technical Services of the University Libraries stated, “EAST membership continues the University Libraries tradition of collaboration, while pursuing innovative and creative ways to preserve scarce titles for future generations of research.  This important contribution to the University community will enhance the access of additional materials, add value to our current collection and aid in increasing student success.”

Susan Stearns, Project Director for EAST, commented “We are pleased to welcome the University of Rhode Island to EAST.  Not only have they been able to add unique and scarcely held print titles to the EAST collective collection, but library users throughout the URI community will have access to the almost 10 million books and over 28,000 journal titles that are being retained across the member libraries.”

Our analysis of the University Libraries collection identified over 81,000 circulating print titles that will be retained as part of our retention commitments. Going forward, this analysis will help us determine our collection strengths and ensure the collection’s growth is linked to student, faculty and researcher needs to be successful.

The University Libraries is pleased to be part of an organization that is dedicated to creating a shared print and data network that will hopefully expand across the nation.
We look forward to working with EAST in leading the way to ensure student and researcher success.

For more information, please contact Michael Cerbo (mcerbo@uri.edu) at the University Libraries.