As of this month, the Xavier University of Louisiana Library is an official member of the Oberlin Group of Libraries. The primary purpose of the Oberlin Group is to provide a forum for member directors and staff to discuss and seek solutions for common issues, share accomplishments of the member libraries, information on best practices for library operations and services, and help members anticipate and adapt to challenges. It also aims to expand cooperative interlibrary loan agreements, consortia contracts with vendors, and support for open access initiatives.  

Library Director Nancy Hampton explained that the Oberlin Group hopes to organize open access resources into one collaborative platform that member libraries can utilize for research and historical archives from other locations.  

“[For example,] someone [at another member university] who is researching what life was like in New Orleans for people of color in the 1930s can use our archives to find pictures that suit their needs,” Hampton said. “Xavier’s Archives and Special Collections are particularly valuable because of our records of the Black Catholic experience.” 

The Oberlin Group is a nonprofit organization composed of leading liberal arts college libraries in the United States with a focus on library and scholarly publishing issues and related services. The Board of Directors is elected from member library directors.  

As a member of the group, Xavier’s library and its staff are joining a widespread network that offers training sessions and new perspectives, ideas, and other collaboration opportunities. Before the pandemic, in-person conferences were held regularly, hosted by a rotation of the different member libraries. Though the COVID-19 pandemic caused all programming and training to be held virtually, Hampton hopes that Xavier will host one such conference one day.  

“I am excited to exchange ideas with other universities and the collaborations that are to come,” said Hampton. 

Hampton credits Amy Popp and Kwashawn Barnett, two of Xavier’s remote librarians, with navigating the facets of the application and coordinating the completion. According to Hampton, the process involved answering questions about instruction and orientation programs, student employment initiatives, and notable archival collections. Other aspects, including the implementation of the innovation studio, the expanded electronic resources, and workshops in the data visualization studio were also considered.  

In their quest to diversify their network’s resources and regional geography, The Oberlin Group specifically invited Xavier to apply for their consortium. Xavier’s library is the only member from Louisiana and one of the few from the southern region of the country.  

Xavier was one of four universities elected to the organization as part of the new cohort. The other three include Allegheny College, Lewis & Clark College and the University of Puget Sound.