Florida State University Libraries' Digital Library Program is one of six founding members of the MetaArchive of Southern Digital Culture <http://www.metaarchive.org>. This partnership with the research libraries of Auburn University, Emory University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Louisville, and the Virginia Polytechnic and State University is funded under the auspices of the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program to build a collaborative digital preservation network of Southern cultural heritage materials. The partnership was established to explore a new model for distributed, collaborative digital archiving and preservation. The new model spans multiple state jurisdictions, and includes public, private and governmental participants. Joining this very large and distributed partnership made the FSU Digital Library realize that with collaboration comes growth. Since 2003, the FSU Libraries have considered the questions, “What must be in place for a prototypical digital library program to engage in multiple large-scale collaborations?” and “How can new and or established digital library programs create a model workflow that will support collaborative efforts with as little added work as possible?” This paper considers those questions in the context of the FSU-NDIIPP partnership, and suggests evaluative criteria for building bridges and opening silos.