News from the Field

David Free

Yale University Joins Research Collections and Preservation Consortium

The Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP) is pleased to welcome Yale University as its newest member. Launched in 2017, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (and incorporated as a Under the Discovery to Delivery Program), users request items directly from local catalogs of each consortium member for two-business-day delivery. The use of shared holdings across each partner institution has increased by more than 30 percent, demonstrating the value of seamless access to distributed collections.

“The ReCAP partnership embodies Yale University Library’s commitment to preserving and enhancing access to the scholarly record,” said Barbara Rockenbach, Yale’s Stephen F. Gates ‘68 University Librarian. “Through this shared collection, we can leverage the deep investments each partner library has made in print holdings, both past and future, to ensure that all researchers have access to the print resources they need. This collaboration amplifies the reach and impact of all of our collections. We are thrilled to be part of it.”

ReCAP’s Shared Collection Service enables users at Columbia, Harvard, the New York Public Library, Princeton—and now Yale—to experience increasingly seamless access to the partners’ extraordinary holdings accessioned over centuries. With this addition, Yale will be making available 2.7 million unique titles to the consortium and will gain access to 8.8 million unique titles owned within the consortium.

2026 ACRL Board of Directors Candidates

ACRL is pleased to announce the slate of candidates for the association’s Board of Directors for the 2026 ALA/ACRL elections.

• Vice-President/President-Elect:
  • Russell Michalak, Goldey-Beacom College
  • Yasmeen L. Shorish, James Madison University
• Director-at-Large:
  • Heather Dalal, Rider University
  • Eric Edwards, Illinois State Library
• Director-at-Large:
  • Jill Sodt, Mott Community College

A full list of candidates for ACRL and section offices will be available in the January 2026 issue of C&RL News.

BTAA, Springer Nature Launch Unlimited Open Access Publishing Agreement

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) has signed a two-year open publishing agreement (OPA) with Springer Nature, making it the publisher’s first truly unlimited and uncapped open access agreement in the Americas. This is the BTAA’s fifth OPA and its most expansive to date. The deal offers all authors across participating institutions unlimited open access publishing in Springer’s hybrid journals portfolio while at the same time uniformly expanding access to those titles regardless of past local subscriptions. Authors from participating alliance campuses can now publish their work openly—meaning published work will not be behind a paywall—in all Springer hybrid journals without paying article processing charges. The agreement simplifies author workflows, allows authors to retain rights in their work, and ensures that published articles are immediately open and available to everyone under a Creative Commons license.

JSTOR, SCELC Announce Consortium-Wide Digital Stewardship Services Agreement

JSTOR and the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC) recently announced a consortium-wide agreement to make JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services available to all SCELC Member institutions. Through this partnership, more than 100 libraries will have the opportunity to access next-generation digital asset management (DAM) tools, long-term preservation, and AI-powered collections processing support. JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services is a new initiative designed to help institutions overcome persistent obstacles in digital collection stewardship and describe, preserve, manage, and share their distinctive collections at scale. The service offers three tiers of participation, designed to meet institutions’ specific needs, whether enhancing discoverability, managing content through the DAM, ensuring preservation, or applying cutting-edge AI tools. With this agreement, SCELC member institutions can opt into any one of the three tiers and will receive two-year fee subsidies and ongoing support from dedicated SCELC staff. Learn more about JSTOR Digital Stewardship Services at https://about.jstor.org/get-jstor/digital-stewardship/.

New from ACRL - Valuing the Community College Library: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success

ACRL announces the publication of Valuing the Community College Library: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success, edited by Terra Jacobson and Spencer Brayton, a collection of activities and ideas that showcase the unique value that community college libraries bring to their institutions and how to capture and communicate that value.

Sharing the work of our community college libraries—our efforts, stories, and how we’re advancing the institution—and advocating to our peers and administration can boost the libraries’ role on our singular campuses.

Valuing the Community College Library provides a holistic approach to exhibiting community college library value through historical context, practical applications, and future thinking. Through case studies, editorials from administrators, and practical approaches, it addresses why community college libraries exist and should exist, and the nuanced approaches to how library workers situate themselves at their institutions.

Community college libraries need to provide access to content, people, space, and technology, and offer instruction, but can also serve as an outreach arm in advancing the mission of open enrollment and affordable access to higher education. Valuing the Community College Library can help you be an advocate for your library on campus and in your community.

Valuing the Community College Library: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success is available for purchase in print and as an e-book through the ALA Online Store; in print through Amazon.com; and by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the US or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.

Clarivate Commits to ERIC

Clarivate has announced its continued commitment to the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), the world’s most widely used index to education-related literature and a critical resource for libraries, education researchers, and practitioners globally. ERIC is currently sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education.

In response to customer feedback and widespread concern from libraries regarding the future of ERIC, Clarivate is launching the free ProQuest Education Research Index, which includes ERIC data. ProQuest Education Research Index includes ERIC alongside ProQuest Supplemental Education Index, a newly created index that covers the majority of scholarly journals currently indexed by ERIC. It is designed to ensure continued coverage of as many ERIC-indexed titles as possible and will grow over time. The combined solution provides librarians, researchers, and faculty with continued access to over 2,000,000 bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials, including research reports, curriculum and teaching guides, conference papers, and books. Learn more at https://about.proquest.com/en/blog/2025/clarivate-commits-to-eric-the-worlds-most-widely-used-index-of-education-related-literature/.

Alaska Libraries Partner with GPO to Preserve Government Information

Two libraries in Alaska—the Alaska State Court Law Library and the Alaska State
Library—have entered into agreements with the US Government Printing Office (GPO)to become Preservation Stewards. The Alaska State Court Law Library will preserve various current and historical publications, including the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations, and the Alaska State Library will preserve Statutes at Large. To help libraries meet the needs of efficient government document stewardship in the digital era, GPO has established Preservation Stewards to support continued public access to US government documents in print format. These libraries contribute significantly to the effort to preserve printed documents. Through the agreement, many libraries also serve as digital access partners, providing digital access to government information. More than 60 libraries currently serve as Preservation Stewards across the United States.

Catholic News Archive Adds Titles

Atla, the Catholic Media Association, and the Diocese of Phoenix announce that the Catholic News Archive (CNA) has recently added new titles and issues. The Catholic Journalist issues from January 1950 through December 1959, the Catholic Sun issues from 1985 to 2024, and the Catholic Sun publication Alive issues from 1971 to 1984 are now available in the archive. The CNA is a free, fully searchable digital archive of Catholic newspapers launched in 2016 as a project of the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA). Now a part of Atla’s CRRA Program, the archive is growing steadily as newspaper publishers, diocesan archives, and other supporters work with Atla to digitize historical Catholic newspapers and make them easily discoverable. Learn more about CAN at https://www.thecatholicnewsarchive.org/.

ARL Kaleidoscope Program Scholars 2025 Selected

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Kaleidoscope Program (KP) Task Force has chosen 16 graduate students to participate in the 2025 KP cohort, based on recommendations from the KP Selection Working Group. The Kaleidoscope Program is a two-year commitment designed to prepare Indigenous, Black, and People of Color (IBPOC) graduate students for purposeful and consequential careers in research libraries and archives by focusing on professional development, institutional operations, engagement with new and established peers, and other topics relevant to the values, goals, and missions of research libraries and archives. Kaleidoscope Scholars receive financial support for tuition and professional development, mentoring, and access to educational experiences and signature events. For more information about the program and the 2025 scholars, visit the program website at https://www.arl.org/category/our-priorities/diversity-equity-inclusion/kaleidoscope-program/.