Pull quote: “While it is rare for a consortium to override a policy decision made at a library, a consortium can lobby for a course of action counter to that policy decision. Indeed, library staff who are stymied within their library may appeal to a consortium. For example, a university with strict policies on loaning audio-visual (AV) material has to relax its policies within a consortium. This creates tension between Access Services and the AV departments. Access Services uses a consortium to ensure that the AV department maintains the same standards on access within the university as well as the consortium community.The consortia is the ‘good cop’ in these scenarios, which puts naysaying local administrators on the defensive, particularly vis-a-vis their colleagues at other consortial institutions.”
