Q. What is the UK Print Book Collection (UK PBC)?

The University of Liverpool Library is a founder member of this initiative.

The UK Print Book Collection (UK PBC) is a national distributed collection of print monographs with RLUK, SCONUL, national libraries, special libraries and Jisc all playing a role. This approach will ensure preservation of, and access to, shared print holdings in the UK for current and future users.

Member libraries commit to retaining a minimum of seven copies of a title across the collective collection.  Information is shared via Library Hub Compare.

The UK PBC has the following advantages for libraries and their users:

• To maximise the value of the shared national collection 
• To preserve access to print books at a national level
• To benefit from the shared collection 
• To provide awareness of rarity and scarcity within Library collections 
• To give confidence to decision making in the management of print collections  
• To facilitate decisions on space allocation 
• To provide reliable access to scarce material