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Governance Minutes ArchiveFebruary 21, 1989
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE MINUTES 21 February 1989 PRESENT: John Bowen, Vet Medicine Nancy Harris, SGA Bill Cox (Alternate), Engineering Loke Kok, Agr. & Life Sciences Norman Dodl, Education Francis Ventre, Architecture Jack Duke, Faculty Senate Jane Wentworth, Human Resources Paul Gherman, Library David West, Arts & Sciences GUESTS: Bela Foltin, Library Laura Katz, Library (for LFA) Phyllis Johnson, Library ABSENT: Eugene Carson, Provost's Office Nicolaus Tideman, Business Milan Patel, GSA Michael Vorster, Engineering MEETING SUMMARY: Norman Dodl, Chair, called the meeting to order. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as submitted. BUSINESS OF THE MEETING The entire meeting was devoted to discussion with Dr. Robert Heterick, Vice President for Information Systems. Dr. Heterick's main points are outlined below. There was extensive discussion with committee members, particularly on issues relating to budget and space problems. Good News - The immediate shortfall has been rectified by special funding from the State without having to drop serials subscriptions. - Between culling and taking some additional space at Cheds the space problem will be deferred for a year. - The Library staff continues to be dedicated to putting customer service at the top of their priorities. - Line item funding from the State will permit completion of the retrospective conversion of all titles into VTLS. - Library administration is keenly aware of the changing nature of librarianship and endeavors to maintain some programs which explore future technology. Bad News - The Library is chronically under-funded. The tighter funding becomes, the more under-funded is the Library. Dr. Heterick's answers to budget related questions raised by committee members: Most of us have suffered from flat operational budgets for anywhere from 4 to 8 years. The problem that befalls the library and several other units on campus is that while State E & G money used for operations has not changed in 6 to 8 years, the amount of research being done on campus has increased by almost a factor of 3. The library is very sensitive to research activity and the scholarship that follows. While the University's operational budget hasn't changed, the University's total expenditures have increased by almost $60 M in those 8 years. This increase has not been reflected in the Library's budget. The State has a funding arrangement for library materials which is to some extent sensitive to inflation and has been increasing. The University's contribution to the library budget has been flat and as a consequence the contribution for materials is overrunning the total library budget to the extent that we are not able to expend all the money that the state gives us for materials. We must divert a portion of it to the basic operations of the library. The alternative would be that we buy materials even though we cannot afford to catalog them, or shelve them, or buy the stacks to put them on. - A solution to the space problem is not even on the University's ten year capital plan. Dr. Heterick's answer to a question from the committee: The largest single space deficit on the campus is in the Library. The size of the Library space deficit is roughly equal to 1/2 the total size of the University space deficit. The Library is not even in the next 10 year University capital plan. - Library salaries are competitive, but the pool of well qualified applicants is shrinking. - Libraries are becoming increasingly technology intensive, hence capital intensive. Perspective - All current strategies are short run, survival oriented. There is no readily visible solution to the under-funding problem. - Pressure from the research community will attenuate as it is confronted by the same set of problems. - Work will be done to find a pragmatic solution to the space problem, which will likely be high density storage. - Technology will be used wherever it offers reduced operational costs, but not much effort will be put into technology that increases service levels at the expense of the budget. The committee members agreed to ask Dr. Heterick to return at a future meeting. The meeting was adjourned until the next regular meeting time on March 6, 1989.
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Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:51 EDT