Global Collections Committees

The Center for Research Libraries Global Collections Committees (GCC) are standing committees which maximize the collective expertise and financial resources of CRL and its membership to collect and preserve identified material by focusing on specific geographic regions, culturally and/or linguistically defined areas, or other collection development emphases as determined by the Collection and Services Policy Committee (CSPC) to accommodate the evolving research needs of our members.  

GCC actively advise on and participate in the collaborative effort of collection building, licensing, and stewarding at CRL per their focus areas and by contributing to larger conversations around work supporting CRL collections and membership. They build relationships with professionals and professional organizations inside and outside the membership, facilitating a member network of materials, expertise, and other resources beyond CRL holdings. GCC may also contribute to outreach, programming, and/or professional development efforts of CRL.  

People participating in GCC have options for their level of engagement and commitment such as working on task forces or sub-committees. And that can change depending on the needs of the group and their own capacity and interests. The commitment of time and effort varies but there is a virtual annual meeting of each GCC, at least two meetings a year for the steering subcommittee, plus asynchronous work coordinated through a SharePoint site, online meetings, and email. Below is a calendar roughly outlining activities throughout a typical annual cycle.

At their heart, GCC are collection advisory committees, a community comprised of area studies experts from our member libraries, collaborators, and partners. Collections at CRL include purchased acquisitions, transfers from members, distributed collection agreements, and other special projects such as hosting digital or microfilm surrogates of materials from partner organizations. There is a governing Collection Principles policy document, project guidelines, and other support for work initiated by the GCC. 

Each committee has an elected steering subcommittee, and some have other subcommittees and/or working groups. In addition to advising on these collection management activities, GCC members may also participate in building research guides for our collections, contribute to the coordination of lecture series, contribute to building project proposals, and other related work through sub-committees or working groups. 

Participating in a GCC is a member benefit! Current CRL member institutions can appoint one or more GCC representatives as a benefit of their CRL membership. The Head of the member library may designate one or more individuals to represent the institution, with one of them serving as the voting member of the GCC. 

As GCC are operational committees advising on work of CRL, committee participants should have a relevant professional background and knowledge of the field. 

If you are affiliated with a member institution, please reach out to the Chair of the committee that interests you and ask your library head (Dean, Director, University Librarian) about working with CRL on a GCC. 

Committees may invite individual collaborators from outside CRL membership on a permanent or project-related basis to serve as advisors or consultants. Individual Collaborators may serve on work groups and task forces, even to chair those groups, by appointment of the GCC Chair. However, voting and officer service are limited to representatives from member institutions. 

As GCC are operational committees advising on work of CRL, committee participants should have a relevant professional background and knowledge of the field.

If you are not at a CRL member institution, please reach out to the Chair of the committee that interests you. 

GCC are fundamentally collection advisory committees and work is generally processed through a proposal to purchase or subscribe to collection content, or a project proposal such as digitization, metadata enhancement, or other collaborative work. 

GCC may also engage in work which supplements and enhances collection development, such professional development symposia, maintaining research guides, and hosting discussion groups. 

Information about our Collections Support Programs, including purchasing and project support can be found here. 

Link to subsection on Project support: Global Collections Support Programs | Center for Research Libraries 

The GCC Charter can be found here

See also:

CRL Governance 
Committees and Task Forces | Center for Research Libraries

CSPC Charge (the body to whom the Committees report) 
Collections and Services Policy Committee Charge | Center for Research Libraries 

This calendar broadly represents the ebb and flow of work of a GCC within a fiscal year at CRL. Individual GCC may have subcommittees or working groups with supplemental activities and may have slightly different processes for gathering and vetting project and purchase proposals. 

Quarter 1

July

• New CRL Officers start their terms, including GCC  
• Start of the CRL fiscal year
• CRL accounting begins processing invoices
• New projects officially start / ongoing projects resume. Projects generally include reformatting, such as microfilming newspapers, but may be cataloging projects, digitization, or other type of collection enhancement. 
• CRL receives physical materials schedules for filming or digitization
• CRL staff begins/continues project preparation
• verifying dates and sorting materials
• coordinating work to fill gaps in serial runs

August

• CRL updates project plans, including scheduling work with vendors
• Vendors are usually less busy in late summer and can spend more time on larger projects 

September

• Project and vendor work continues

Quarter 2

October

• CRL ramps up planned acquisitions work coming out of committees 
• Creation of new purchase orders for standing orders, firm order purchases, and subscriptions 

November

• GCC begin discussion and brainstorming around new project with formal or informal meetings at their discretion
• CRL holds office hours to facilitate open discussions on potential proposals.
• GCC begin submitting first drafts of the new proposals to CRL
• formal project consultations begin
• finalized proposals will be included in January budget proposal

December

• Project development and vendor work continues

Quarter 3

January

• CRL continues project consultations with GCC
• Budget planning starts at CRL for the next fiscal year
• CRL staff initiates midyear review of project statuses
• Vendors are notified that invoices are required by mid-April
• Projects that have stalled may have their funds redirected

February

• CRL continues project consultations with GCC
• GCC meet to approve and rank proposals (or vote via ballot for the proposal) 
• Vendor and contributors provide updates on work in progress, including whether they will they be able to invoice before mid-April
• Funding adjustments are made as necessary
• Available funds will be reallocated to ensure expenditure
• CRL will review purchase requests and shared purchase proposals against available funds

March

• End-of-Year (EOY) budget review and purchasing
• Reallocation of remaining funds to ensure expenditure
• EOY firm order purchases submitted
• GCC Secretaries being elections process
• call for nominations and self-nominations
• submits slate of candidates to CRL staff

Quarter 4

April

• GCC officer elections held
• CRL begins holding invoices mid-April in preparation to close the fiscal year accounting cycle
• CRL begins year-end accounting processes at the end of April

May

• CRL Annual Meeting held
• Budget for the new fiscal year is approved by membership

June

• GCC begin preliminary planning for the next fiscal year, at their discretion
• Projects that will continue will be reviewed
• New project ideas may be considered and planned
• possible acquisitions work may be considered and planned

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy and the Global Collections Committees Charter, the African Studies Collections Committee acquires research materials pertaining to Sub-Saharan Africa, African studies, and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about Africa and/or in African languages; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; promotes the preservation of publications and archives concerning the nearly fifty nations of Sub-Saharan Africa; and works to improve access to African and African-language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections.

The African Studies Global Collection Committee continues work begun by CAMP, which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by CAMP can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries 

Topic guides for CAMP projects can be found at: CAMP Guides to Collections | Center for Research Libraries

Link to "Africa" as subject in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, the East Asian Studies Collections Committee acquires research materials pertaining to East Asia, East Asian studies, and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about East Asia and/or in East Asian languages; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to East Asia and East Asian-language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections.

The East Asia Collections Committee was inaugurated in 2025 as part of a larger reorganization of the Strengthening Global Collections reorganization. Previous to the foundation of EACC, collecting in this area was done by members outside of CRL. 

Link to "China" or "Korea" or "Japan" as subject in CRL Catalog: CRL | Search Results

Link to "China" or "Korea" or "Japan" as subject in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, FRENCC acquires research materials pertaining to Francophone materials outside of Central Europe and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about the French language; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to French-language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections. FRENCC supports the acquisition, sharing, and use of French-language materials among North American libraries, and the fostering of closer collaboration with Francophone research libraries.

The French Language Collection Committee continues work begun by CIFNAL, which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by CIFNAL can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries

Link to French collection in CRL Catalog: CRL | Search Results

Link to "French" as subject in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, GLCC acquires research materials pertaining to German language materials and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about the German language and culture; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to German-language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections. GLCC supports the acquisition, sharing, and use of German-language materials among North American libraries, and the fostering of closer collaboration with German language research libraries.

The German Language Collection Committee continues work begun by GNARP, which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by GNARP can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries

Link to German collection in CRL Catalog: CRL | Search Results

Link to "German" as subject in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

The Latin American Collections Committee acquires, preserves, and maintains microform and digital collections of unique, rare, and bulky or voluminous Latin American research materials, emphasizing original preservation, either through microfilming or digitization, though it may also purchase existing microfilm. The geographic scope of LACC includes all of Latin America, including the Caribbean region and Central America.

The Latin American Collections Committee continues work begun by LAMP and LARRP, which migrated from projects to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by LAMP and LARRP can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries (LAMP) and Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries (LARRP).

Link to LAMP projects in CRL Catalog: CRL | Search Results

Link to "Latin American" in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, the Slavic and Eastern European Studies Collections Committee acquires research materials pertaining to Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Slavic studies, and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about Eastern Europe/Eurasia, Slavic Studies and/or in Slavic languages; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to Eastern Europe/Eurasia and Slavic-language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections. Geographic areas of interest include the countries of Eastern and Central Europe (Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine), Russia, the Transcaucasian countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia), and the Central Asian countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan).

The Slavic and Eastern European Collections Committee continues work begun by SEEMP, which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by SEEMP can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries

Link to SEEMP projects in CRL Catalog: CRL | Search Results

Link to "Soviet" or "Russia" content in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, the South Asian Studies Collections Committee acquires research materials pertaining to South Asia, including but not limited to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives, South Asian studies, and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about South Asia and/or in South Asian languages; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to South Asia and South Asian -language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections.

The South Asian Collections Committee continues work begun by SAMP, which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by SAMP can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries 

Link to SAMP projects in CRL Catalog: CRL | Search Results

Link to "South Asia"  in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, the Southeast Asian Studies Collections Committee acquires research materials pertaining to Southeast Asia, including but not limited to COUNTRIES AND REGIONS, Southeast Asian studies, and other related fields of study, emphasizing but not limited to primary resource material from or about Southeast Asia and/or in Southeast Asian languages; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to Southeast Asia and Southeast Asian -language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections.

The Southeast Asia Collections Committee continues work begun by SEAM, which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by SEAM can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries

Links to SEAM projects can be found in the catalog: CRL | Search Results | SEAM

Link to "Southeast Asia"  in our digital collection: CRL's Digital Collection

Guided by the CRL Collection Development Policy, the West Asia and North Africa Collections Committee acquires research materials pertaining to West Asia and North Africa including but not limited to Arab countries, Israel, Turkey, Iran, and related areas not covered by other GCC; promotes and facilitates the cooperative exchange of ideas and resources between research libraries related to this work; and works to improve access to West Asian and North African -language resources through licensing, digitization, and institutional connections.

The West Asia and North African Studies Collection Committee continues work begun by MEMP (the Middle East Materials Project), which migrated from a project to a committee in 2025. Documentation of work done by MEMP can be found at: Global Resources Programs | Center for Research Libraries