The Elche campus welcomed representatives from the five academic institutions in the Region of Valencia through their university libraries. Last Friday, 6 November, the Valona Building on the Elche campus of Miguel Hernández University (UMH) hosted the 2nd BUVAL Libraries Meeting.

The official opening was led by Ángel Antonio Carbonell Barrachina, Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer at the UMH, who officially opened the event; the event also featured addresses by Isabel Fariñas Gómez, Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Valencia (UV) and President of BUVAL, acting on behalf of the Rector of the University of Valencia, as well as by Francisco José Torres Alfosea, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Quality at the University of Alicante; and by Encarnación Rodríguez Navarro, Director of the UMH Library Service.

Following the opening ceremony, Alejandro Gadea, a library technician at the University of Valencia, gave a presentation focusing on the current status and prospects of the CRUE’s transformative agreements, delving into their implementation and impact within the BUVAL consortium.

The day continued with parallel working sessions involving the consortium’s eight specialist working groups, including the Technical Committee’s working group (library directors): Acquisitions, Open Science, Interlibrary Loans, Web and Communication, Management Systems, Preservation and Artificial Intelligence. During these workshops, the work carried out over the past year was reviewed and the priority objectives for collaboration over the coming period were defined.

The event was brought to a close by Cristina Tomás, technical director of BUVAL and head of the UV’s Library and Documentation Service, who highlighted the high level of participation and the consolidation of the consortium in this second edition; she also praised the efforts of the UMH as host.

With this second edition, the consortium has established itself as the benchmark in the Valencian Community for innovation, efficiency and excellence in university library management.