When Cost-Per-Use Isn't Enough: Creating a Resource Evaluation Rubric

This project explores Grand Valley State University Libraries and Art Museum’s experience setting up a rubric to standardize collections renewal decisions. The end goal of the project is to ensure resources that support smaller departments are evaluated fairly, to weather rising resource costs, and to facilitate communication with those outside of the collections team. This project was presented virtually at the 2026 Charleston Conference on November 5, 2026. The collections team worked to create a rubric to serve as a starting point for evaluating electronic resources. This rubric incorporates resource cost, cost per use, course enrollment, and overall subject area budget allocation, as well as a weight to put smaller departments on more equal footing. Resources are scored according to the rubric as they are considered for renewal, providing a standard process for the collections team to follow with each renewal. A helpful Python script and Google Data Studio dashboard then displays the rubric results for liaison librarians and the leadership team who may not be directly involved with collections decisions. This rubric setup allows the collections team to address a budget deficit of $500,000 early in the fiscal year and clearly communicate resource changes to the rest of the library. The rubric template, Python script, and dashboard examples that could be customized to other institutions are available at the linked Google Folder.