Describes the planning and construction of the new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose, California, USA. This collaborative project between San Jose State University and the main branch of the San Jose Public Library utilizes a unique shared management system. The operating agreement defines the roles of each party within the co-managed facility. The overall philosophy of the building design and the building's interior floor plan are described. After a consultant's study of reference services was commissioned, it was decided that the new library would utilize a merged reference model. As library budgets continue to fall, joint library partnerships such as this one will become more common.
The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose, California is a unique dual-use library serving the students of San Jose State University and the community of San Jose, California. The reference collections of the two libraries are merged and interfiled to promote ease of access for both populations served. Economies of scale were realized through collaborative collection development activities for major reference purchases between the two institutions. This article describes Paul Kauppila is Reference/Instruction Librarian
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