2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

What is a library without books? An engineering library at a major North American university is learning the answer to this question. The institution’s college of engineering recently completed construction on a brand-new building housing several departments and labs, with space included for a new engineering subject library. However, the new space is approximately 20 percent of the size of the old library, which created the need to severely downsize both the collection and the services housed within it.

The decision was made to create a “bookless” library, with the new location acting as a service point and circulation desk while the circulating materials would be held offsite. The entire collection underwent a deselection process, which eliminated about two-thirds of the original books. What remained was moved to the main library and a policy emphasizing the purchase of electronic books over physical copies was implemented. The move and the new collection situation was communicated to the faculty, students, and staff of the college of engineering through a variety of different methods during the two years before the move, including at new faculty and student orientation events, department meetings, and as part of in-class instruction. An emphasis was placed on the fact that although the engineering library has no books onsite, patrons are still able to request any item in the catalog and it will be delivered to engineering for them to pick up. This paper will also include recommendations and lessons learned for others who may be interested in or preparing for a similar move.