Orbis Cascade Alliance Return on Investment (ROI) 2024 (PDF)

Strategic Collaboration for Shared Benefit

The Alliance delivers innovative and essential programs that support sustainable, equitable access to library resources and services at member institutions in the Pacific Northwest.

Alliance Higher Education Community

The Alliance is a trusted partner in serving the teaching, learning, and research needs of students, faculty, and staff at member institutions:

• 38 members in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho
• 250,000+ student FTE
• 80,000+ faculty and staff

Shared Collections and Services for Shared Students

36% of students transferring into Alliance member institutions come from other member schools

Reducing the Cost of Education

Through collective investment, the Alliance strengthens, sustains, and extends the capacity of individual libraries, helping bend the cost curve for member institutions.

$39 Per Student

Average cost per member: For only $39 per student FTE, the Alliance provides a full suite of library resources and services:

• A shared library catalog and collection management system
• 22 million books and media available for students and faculty to request
• Fast interlibrary loan courier service (3 days on average) between 246 academic, public, and K-12 libraries across OR, WA, and ID
• 234,000+ subscribed ebooks and 22,000+ owned ebooks
• 80,000+ subscribed streaming videos
• A shared archives discovery platform, including 40,000 archival collection guides
• 10.0 FTE dedicated consortium staff who provide library and archives systems management; library resources purchasing and subscription management; interlibrary loan coordination; professional development; and community event coordination.

Small Investment, Big Return

On average, member institutions spend $981 per student FTE on library services; by investing only 4% of that amount in the Alliance, each member library is able to provide a wealth of resources and research tools to each student.

Delivering on Shared Investments

Members’ investments in Alliance resources and services not only provide expanded access for their institutional communities—they lead to cost-effective use and significant cost savings that can be re-invested locally.

Shared Library System

80% average cost savings for member institutions by participating in the shared library system (a collective savings of $10.4 million)

Shared Collections and Catalog

109,712 books and media borrowed through the shared catalog—increasing physical item check-outs by students, faculty, and staff at member libraries by 20%

Interlibrary Loan Courier Service

146,611 packages sent to participating libraries at a cost of $2.43/package—realizing a minimum savings of $6.57/package over comparable speed mail service (and a collective savings of $963,339)

Shared eBook Collections

• 3,229,204 uses of collectively subscribed ebooks, at a shared cost per use of $0.29
• 222,267 uses of owned Oxford University Press titles, at an overall cost per use of $1.43 and an average member library cost per use of $7.48
• 438,886 uses of owned Wiley titles, at an overall cost per use of $0.64 and an average member library cost per use of $4.58

Shared Streaming Video Collection

140,832 streams of shared digital videos across all members, at a shared cost per use of $2.20 (compared to other streaming video options for libraries that can cost $150 or more for a 1-year license, regardless of use)

Extended Local Staffing Capacity

Consortium staff help address skill and capacity gaps at individual libraries through training and direct support, as well as centrally managing shared functions (e.g. shared systems and group subscription negotiations)—creating significant time savings that allow member libraries to focus on directly supporting their local communities.

A La Carte Savings

Beyond sharing ebook and streaming video collections, Alliance members benefit from opt-in shared licensing of journals and research databases. Members save an estimated 25% on subscriptions licensed through the Alliance—a collective savings of $4 million.

Building Capacity for Member Libraries

Fostering professional development and a sense of belonging are critical for member libraries’ efforts to recruit and retain qualified employees—Alliance training opportunities and collaborative work directly support these goals.

Training and Professional Development

139 community and capacity-building sessions coordinated or delivered by Alliance central staff in FY24, with a total of 2,412 member library worker participants and an estimated market value of $240,000 for all session seats.

Involvement in Shared Work

145 members in 21 groups in FY24 that provide opportunities for members to help guide Alliance work; evaluation of group members’ experiences convey that members believe their work is valuable for the Alliance and their contributions are valued; and their experiences and/or identities are respected.

Cultivation of Inclusive Community

6 training sessions offered in FY24 by the DEI Standing Group in support of creating equity in higher education; 246 library workers across 36 Alliance member libraries participated in the training series. Of attendees sharing their experiences, 94% learned something new and 87% were confident in applying their new knowledge/skills in their work.