Books-on-Demand Pilot Program: An Innovative “Patron-centric” Approach to Enhance the Library Collection

SUMMARY The collection budget at the University of Florida Libraries has been flat the past few years despite the increase in new degree programs offered at the university. With the creation of new academic programs, the ILL borrowing and document delivery units have experienced an increase in ILL requests from both on and off campus. Despite what little literature is available, the trend of purchasing materials requested via ILL rather than submitting an ILL request has emerged. By purchasing ILL requests the patrons contribute in defining the collection. In addition to receiving a purchased book quicker than a traditional ILL request, it is often cheaper to buy than to borrow. Based on this analysis, a proposal was submitted to the University of Florida Libraries administration to create a six-month pilot program with a $15,000 budget allocation for purchasing books that were originally requested via ILL. The pilot project was touted as a “patron-centric” approach to supplement the current collection development program. This article will review the pilot project, including criteria for purchases, ILL workflow and future recommendations.