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The Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) consists of 128 libraries. This paper aims to present an analysis of collection and open educational resources (OER) initiatives undertaken by CARLI over the past decade that contribute to improving college affordability.

After reviewing important literature pertaining to library consortia and college affordability, this paper presents a detailed case study of CARLI’s collection and OER initiatives.

Owing to their economies of scale, library consortia have the potential to make substantial contributions to improving college affordability.

Compared to the efforts of individual libraries to improve college affordability, library consortium efforts have received far less attention in the professional literature. The work of the CARLI consortium documented here can provide a template for other library consortia that are working to improve college affordability.

Patron driven acquisitions (PDA) programs have emerged as an important component in library collection practices. The authors aim to report on four PDA programs (two completed, two currently underway) undertaken by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign either by itself or in partnership with a statewide academic library consortium known as CARLI.

The authors use a case study approach based on their professional experience and direct involvement with these programs.

The programs were built on successful partnerships with both vendors and consortial partners; each program was informed by and built on the success of the previous one. The processes can be scaled up and applied to larger systems in order to maximize their impact and user satisfaction.

Acquisitions librarians and selectors will find the local PDA programs of interest, while the consortial approach will be of interest to anyone involved with building and sharing collections in a multi-institutional environment.