By Ray English and Will Bridegam

The idea for the Oberlin Group grew out of conferences of the presidents of 50 liberal arts colleges held at Oberlin in 1984 and 1985 to discuss the role of private colleges in educating the nation's scientists. The colleges represented had produced an exceptional number of graduates who later earned doctorates in scientific fields. One of the purposes of these conferences was to draw national attention to the importance of liberal arts colleges for scientific education and, in so doing, to garner more foundation and government support.

Drawing on the science conferences model, the late Bill Moffett, then Director of Libraries at Oberlin, formed a steering committee to plan a meeting of 60 liberal arts college library directors. Members were Bill Moffett (Oberlin) chair, Will Bridegam (Amherst), John Sheridan (Colorado College), Kathy Spencer (Franklin and Marshall), Christopher McKee (Grinnell), Eleanor Pinkham (Kalamazoo), Becky Pollock (Reed), and Richard Werking (Trinity University). The first meeting was held at Oberlin in November 1986. The group discussed issues of common concern, including the need for more library funding. Library directors from the 50 institutions represented at the science conferences were invited, as well as directors from a number of other selective liberal arts colleges. The first conference was a success and the directors decided to meet every year at a member institution. They became known as the 'Oberlin Group' because of the site of the first meeting.

From the beginning the Oberlin Group has functioned informally and with minimal structure. Its main purpose has been to share information among the directors in a collegial way and to establish an atmosphere of mutual encouragement and support. Since the first conference, the Oberlin Group has evolved well beyond the annual meeting. Bill Moffett established (and Ray English has continued) a listserv at Oberlin for the discussion of matters of common concern. In 1991 the group established an annual statistical survey, adapted from an earlier survey compiled by Art Monk (Bowdoin); initially compiled by Dennis Ribbens (Lawrence) the survey is now coordinated by Larry Frye (Wabash). Since 1991 Leland Park (Davidson) has compiled the 'Obegroup Directory' and distributed it annually to members. Members routinely conduct surveys and share their findings with the group. In the 1990s the group initiated cooperative projects and activities such as reciprocal interlibrary loan agreements.

More recently members have negotiated consortial contracts for subscriptions to electronic journals and electronic reference services. Because the entire membership is not obligated to participate in these consortial contracts, the subscribing subgroup varies from project to project.

A membership committee, created in 1989, established criteria for membership and recommended new members for the group, with an overall cap of 75 institutions. (Willamette University became the 73rd member in 1992.) One or more host libraries plan annual meetings, assisted by a larger Steering Committee that includes the current host(s), the host(s) from the previous year and the coordinator of the listserv. Shortly before each conference, the membership is invited to suggest topics of current interest for discussion. The Steering Committee selects members to make an initial presentation and then to lead a discussion. The opportunity to talk formally and informally with other liberal arts college library directors about current issues in college librarianship is one of the key benefits of membership in the group.

In 1996 the group reviewed its organizational status. At issue was the question of whether it should incorporate so that it could, as a legal entity, negotiate with vendors and apply for grants. After considerable discussion, the group decided not to formalize its structure. Rather, it chose to remain an unincorporated 'organization of liberal arts college libraries, represented by their directors, that exists for discussion, the sharing of ideas, collegiality, the sharing of statistics, and other cooperative activities that these directors are empowered by their institutions to undertake.'

Ray English is director of libraries at Oberlin College, Ohio, and Will Bridegam is librarian of the college, emeritus, Amherst College, Massachusetts. Email: ray.english@oberlin.edu wbridegam@amherst.edu