The Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) and Oxford University Press (OUP) are in the third year of a pilot to create a financially sustainable model for consortial acquisition of e-books coupled with needed shared print copies, in cooperation with YBP Library Services (YBP). The project expands acquisition of e-books in tandem with reductions in print, so as to move both the consortium and the university presses to a decidedly electronic environment for books that will enhance support for instruction and research across the disciplinary spectrum within an environment that is acceptable to users.

This presentation will report on:

• The challenges and lessons learned during the first two years of the program
• Librarian and patron reactions to this format shift
• The resulting philosophical and practical evolutions in TRLN’s approaches to monographic acquisitions generally and understandings of what constitutes cooperative success specifically.

Presenters also will discuss how this knowledge has changed understandings about vending and acquiring e-books, the relationship of e-books to print, and how we’ve made adjustments in Year 3 of the program that reflect lessons learned during the first two years. Finally, we will discuss how the pilot could become a permanent venture.