M25 membership
Membership criteria
Membership of the Consortium is open to Higher Education Institutions located in London, the East and South East of England* whose institutions are eligible for membership of SCONUL.
Other academic and academic related institutions in the M25 region which may be invited to membership subject to a vote by existing members at the AGM, usually in April or May, subject to their meeting the following criteria:
- they are involved in supporting academic research
- they are within the agreed geographical boundaries of the Consortium
- they sign up to the Access25 scheme
- they agree to participate in disaster recovery support and other mutual support activities as agreed by the Consortium
*In this case the East and South East of England shall mean the counties of Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex.
Subscriptions for Membership
All members pay an annual fee for subscription to the Consortium at the start of the financial year on 1st August. The income from subscription fees supports all the Consortium’s activities.
The level and method of calculating subscriptions is agreed annually at the Consortium’s Annual General Meeting.
Process for membership
After an expression of interest is made (see ‘Join the Consortium’) the Secretary and Executive Manager will contact you. The process for considering applications is as follows:
a) The Executive Manager will arrange to visit the interested library for a meeting with its Director. Together with the Secretary s/he will investigate the library’s eligibility for membership and willingness to commit to the rights and responsibilities of M25 Consortium members.
b) The Executive Manager will then bring a recommendation to the Steering Group, who will in turn then make a recommendation to the full membership at the next Annual General Meeting.
It is noted that the Steering Group may recommend (without assigned reason) to the General meeting that:
- Any organisation meeting the criteria for membership may be excluded
- Membership of existing members may be terminated
The Secretary should be contacted for any further clarification if required.
Institutions that join the Consortium are also expected to participate in the Mutual Support Agreement, open their catalogue to Search25 and receive visitors to their library under the Access25 scheme.
Use the links on the left to explore the benefits of membership for your library’s staff and users, the members’ rights and responsibilities, and to express interest in your library joining the M25 Consortium.