Thomas Moran. Green River Cliffs, Wyoming. 1881. The National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC).
In March of 2023, Meghan Kelly experienced a new sense of freedom. Permanent access to all archival journals and primary sources licensed materials on JSTOR was granted to faculty and students across seven Wyoming campuses—without recurring fees. The one-time payment option offered by JSTOR allowed libraries, through the Wyoming Community College Commission, to purchase the vast digital collections while being relieved of monthly payments. Freedom, indeed.
Meghan is the Associate Dean of Library and Learning Commons at Laramie County Community College (LCCC) Ludden Library in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Experience had taught her to believe that her budget would limit her ability to expand her library collections. But then she found out about the new comprehensive collection model JSTOR designed specifically for community colleges and the one-time payment fee option JSTOR offered. “At first it seemed too good to be true,” she said.
Overcoming skepticism
Some community college systems coordinate on purchasing, and this is true for LCCC, which is part of a consortium of seven colleges. Meghan is the chair of a committee that meets monthly to discuss how to spend the shared pool of money.
When she approached her colleagues with the idea of securing the JSTOR Archival Journals and Primary Sources Collection for the community colleges using the one-time payment option, some of her colleagues responded in much the same way she did. They thought budget constraints would make even the one-time payment option impossible for them to afford. Meghan worked to get everyone on board with the idea, especially those who did not use JSTOR. To persuade them, Meghan gathered hard facts. “…we had to collect data to see what was being used by students, faculty, and researchers,” she said. Her colleagues reviewed the data and noted how valuable JSTOR access would be for the community college system. Casey Debus, from Eastern Wyoming College, crunched the numbers and discovered the institution could not afford the one-time payment fee in a single payment. They had made it this far, though, so they decided to ask to spread the fee over multiple payments.
JSTOR worked with the consortium and agreed to spread the one-time payment over three years.
For Meghan, the one-time payment option for permanent access and no recurring fees was “a no-brainer win.” She said, “It’s always a concern when you pick up resources and people like them, and then you have budget cuts.” The one-time payment option provided access to JSTOR’s vast digital library and the security of knowing that future budget cuts would not affect her institutional subscription.
It never hurts to ask
Many community colleges across the country struggle with limited budgets. The need to be resourceful and intentional can give librarians the impression that purchasing extensive archival journals and primary source collections is simply beyond the realm of possibility. Meghan would like these librarians to know that it never hurts to ask.
Once the collections are implemented, she suggests, “Make an announcement about the new collection and then faculty will start to integrate it into their coursework.” Getting faculty buy-in is easy once they are given the opportunity to access JSTOR. They quickly see how impactful the journals and primary sources are in terms of driving successful student outcomes.
Subscriptions with recurring annual fees put these resources at risk of elimination when library budgets are tight. Devising a sustainable model for community colleges was a project that began during the pandemic, when institutions across the country were struggling to provide quarantined students with access to information.
JSTOR looked for ways to expand access and reduce costs in order to provide large amounts of content to more people that was truly affordable. Previously, community colleges licensed individual JSTOR collections. This method didn’t work well for many community colleges due to funding concerns and the administrative costs involved in managing individual collection title lists.
To help, JSTOR developed a fee model that provides low cost access to a single comprehensive collection containing all archival journals and primary sources available for license on JSTOR. A one-time payment option also offered permanent access with no recurring fees.
Collect the data
Meghan notes that it is important to make sure that the library will still have access to the information each individual school was paying for separately before choosing resources. “What are people subscribing to in the first collection? Then we compare that to whatever content would be included in the new collection, and then look to determine where the overlap is,” Meghan said.
She recommends other librarians look to the process already in place at their institutions. The Wyoming community college library consortium has a committee that manages budgets and a process to bring ideas forward for consideration.
Getting the word out
To increase awareness of the new resources, it was announced in the campus newsletter. The library also posted the news on the school website and shared guides for each subject area. Spotlights featuring new and most popular citings went out to faculty and staff. Ludden Library has faculty liaisons assigned by subject area who act as a resource for instructional faculty. Liaisons attend department meetings to talk about resources and are available to work with faculty one-on-one. Since expanding their resources, Meghan said, “Things take a while to catch on… but our usage stats have definitely gone up for our campus.”
Communicate and problem-solve together
Meghan has more good advice for other community colleges seeking to expand access to resources. “Be optimistic with your vendors… communicate, ask questions. Share your concerns and constraints. Problem-solve with your vendors. Find what fits with your budget and budget cycle,” said Meghan.
Staying in tune with what community colleges go through has given JSTOR the ability to ease the burden of budget-strapped libraries while giving students, faculty, and researchers access to credible, trusted resources.
“I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do this,” said Meghan. “I really hope other vendors look at JSTOR’s model and consider going in that direction.”
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