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Virginia Tech
Governance Minutes ArchiveSeptember 11, 1991
These minutes were approved as submitted at the ULC meeting on October 9, 1991. UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMMITTEE MINUTES September 11, 1991 PRESENT: Carol Burch-Brown, Provost's Office J. Scott Poole, Architecture Norm Dodl, Education Martha Rose, CSAC Edward Fox, Arts & Sciences Mark Smith, Veterinary Medicine Paul Gherman, Library Cortney Vargo, GSA Megan Hilt, SGA James Yardley, Business Gerald Luttrell, Engineering Rod Young, Ag. & Life Sciences Ken McCleary, Human Resources GUESTS: Debbie Averhart, Library Paul Metz, Library Joanne Eustis, Library Bruce Obenhaus, Library Shirley Glazener, Library Frances Painter Don Kenney, Library Linda Richardson Buddy Litchfield, Library ABSENT: J. D. Stahl, Faculty Senate MEETING SUMMARY: The meeting was called to order at 4:05p.m. The May minutes were approved as submitted. New members were welcomed and the meeting time was set for the second Wednesday of each month during this semester. REPORTS LIBRARY ANNOUNCEMENTS (P. Gherman): Restructured Organization of Library: Two organizational charts were sent in advance of the meeting: a management chart showing heads of units within the library who serve on the University Library Executive Council and report directly to the University Librarian, and a functional chart showing their areas of responsibility. This is a flatter organization than the former structure and expands the number of people on the University Libraries Executive Council and brings the University Librarian into closer contact with those who manage library functions. The ULC invited all members of the Library Executive Council to attend the committee meetings, however, their attendance is not required. Mission and Goals Task Force Report: The University Libraries Mission and Goals statement was distributed in advance of the meeting. The statement has been reviewed by the Library Faculty Association and Library Staff Association. The missions and goals document replaces an earlier one, and seeks to reflect the changing library world, where access to information will be an increasingly important part of library operations. It also places emphasis on service. Space Issues Update: The architectural firm of Glave Newman and Anderson is working on the pre-planning for a high-density storage facility. The plan is to be submitted to Richmond by early October. The building will probably be located on the airport site, will cost about 1.7 million, and house 1 million volumes and 10-20 thousand boxes of manuscripts. University Records may be a co-tenant of the building. Temperature and humidity controls will assure that stored materials are housed at the highest standard of preservation. If the state approves construction, the library hopes to have the building within two years. The facility will serve storage needs for ten years, and will be designed for the addition of new modules. It also appears likely that the library will get the bookstore building when a new bookstore is built. The space will probably be used for undergraduate services, to expand study space, and for operations such as the library business department. Report on the Serials Review Project (P. Metz): The serials review project was completed this summer. Dr. Metz reviewed the project methodology for new committee members. The project resulted in 1,255 serial cancellations which produced savings of $305,000. About 15% of canceled titles were duplicates, representing 5% of the dollar savings. Many other cuts came in lightly used journals that were marginal to the university's programs, or from scientific journals that were extremely expensive. Canceled subscriptions included some key reference sets, documentary sources, or statistical files, as well as a number of respected but highly priced print journals or proceedings. This was a severe cut that damaged the library's standing as a research library. During the 80s the library's standing among research libraries had already fallen to the 89th place in serials holdings. The decline will accelerate as a result of this year's cuts. The library will have about 70% of last year's funds for purchases this year. The library continues to work with the university on the library budget and, on the state level, is working with the Library Advisory Committee to SCHEV. Committee members were encouraged to talk to colleagues about the library budget, and to consider whether the committee should write to the university president to express the committee's concern. Report on upgrade of the HP and projected move to the Computing Center (B. Litchfield): The library is working with M. Williams, Director of the Computing Center, on a letter of agreement to delineate shared responsibilities when the HP computer is moved from the library to the center. Remote access from campus offices will not be affected by the move. Two library positions may move to the center to help run the system. The Computing Center will assume the expense for upgrades to the system, thereby freeing money in the library budget. The library will retain responsibility for all internal wiring and connections, the database and VTLS software applications. If all points in the letter of agreement are successfully negotiated in time, the move will occur over the Christmas break. The meeting adjourned at 4:55 pm. The next meeting will be on October 9, 1991.
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Last modified on: Tuesday, 25-Sep-2001 13:57:52 EDT