Most large-scale digital libraries got their start with a combination of grant funding and institutional support. Grants, of course, terminate, and although funded research is usually completed by the time this happens, it is not quite so easy to close the doors of a funded digital library once the money runs out. Like most libraries, digital libraries grow, and even in the case where digitization of a discrete collection may have been completed, resources will still be needed for ongoing maintenance and access provision. Wealthier institutions might be able to support such activities in the normal course of business, and in some cases additional grant monies can be obtained. For many others, cooperation is a common avenue--being virtual rather than tied to a specific brick and mortar location, a digital library can be deployed by a consortium of institutions sharing the costs of equipment, resource acquisition, and personnel. Cooperative ventures have the additional advantage of broadening the base of owned digital resources.