Five hundred into 4 won't go - how to solve the problem of reading list expectations

All of us who have worked in academic libraries over the past few decades and have seen the huge increase in student numbers, not just across the board but on particular courses, will bemoan the ‘not quite enough multiple copies’ syndrome. In an article in Relay, last year, Chris Powis1, an excolleague from the University of the West of England, wrote about ‘overcoming poor funding and combating ...a less than adequate collection’ by ‘a deliberate attempt to compensate through service excellence’. This is our tale of how UWE Library Services is attempting to address a situation where the collection is perceived to be inadequate by some, but that the library believes can be made to work more effectively.