Strengthening community hospital/ university partnerships through establishment of a virtual library to support clinical practice, research and education

During a time when many hospitals were eliminating library services, a clinical and an academic organisation worked together to develop a new dedicated paediatric hospital virtual library. This paper describes the strengthening of existing partnerships and use of experts during the change management process and well into the early sustainment phase. The new healthcare service library offered additional resources and services and provided informational equity to those who previously had limited access in their support roles. With a relatively modest increase in spending, the hospital saw a 700-per cent increase in downloads of papers and received expert research support not readily available during previous library arrangements. The use of experts in various functional areas and formal change management practices were crucial to the positive results garnered by both organisations. The implementation team largely avoided major impediments and commonly expected issues through the leveraging of existing partnerships. Minor barriers, however, related to communication, time constraints, vendor negotiations and overcoming preconceived notions based on past experiences associated with inferior products were easily managed during the course of this project. This paper offers a non-traditional model for organisations to consider while redesigning library services with the intent to improve support for medical education, research and clinical outcomes.