Library development for Texas A&M at Qatar: maximum access/minimum holdings

PurposeTo discuss the challenges of developing a branch library of Texas A&M University Libraries to serve the faculty and students in a new degree‐granting program as part of Education City in Qatar. The goal of the program is to provide students in Qatar an authentic “Aggie” education and experience.Design/methodology/approachDiscusses the development of this new branch library to support undergraduate degrees in electrical, mechanical, chemical and petroleum engineering.FindingsLibrary service in support of these degrees was developed so that duplication of resources and size of collections that had to be managed in Qatar were minimized. The TAMUQ library has successfully provided a full range of information services in support of this innovative collaboration between the university and the government of Qatar.Originality/valueThis paper provides a model for the development of a branch library using the resources of the main campus as much as possible.