Evaluation Guidelines of Collaborative Libary Partnerships

by Hall, Haley

It is generally held by organizations that partnering with other organizations with similar or complementary interests is a positive venture. This idea is no different among libraries, whether public, academic, special, or school. Collaboration and partnerships between libraries and outside organizations is a common activity, with the literature suggesting that organizational collaborations can often result in several kinds of benefits, apart from economic advantage. However, what much of the literature does not suggest is how to measure success and failure between libraries and the organizations with which they partner or collaborate. The research in this study will attempt to define guidelines by which public libraries could analyze the services they provide through collaborative partnerships.