Libraries director warns of possible state
cuts in funding

by Daniel J. Fitzgibbons, Chronicle staff

ith the state budget picture worsening and legislators taking a hard look at spending, Library officials are warning that a funding cut of more than $1 million could be in the offing.

     Citing information that lawmakers plan to reduce funding for the Educational and Reference Materials (ERM) line item in the state budget from the current $14 million to $11 million, Margo Crist, director of Libraries, said her staff is putting into place short-term and long-term plans to address the possible shortfall.

     Although the ERM is shared by the state's 29 public campuses, a $3 million cut would reduce funding for the Amherst campus's acquisition budget by more than $1 million, according to Crist.

     Such a cut, she said, would mean trimming the serials budget by some 20 to 30 percent and the book budget by an equal amount.

     "This is a very big cut," said Crist. "It is a loss of more than 20 percent of our acquisitions budget and it will affect all of us."

     In the meantime, graduate and research programs will be analyzed to ascertain the most cost-effective means of retaining access to scholarly materials even as serials are cancelled. The Library expects to greatly expand its electronic document delivery programs. Through document delivery, full-text articles are delivered directly to faculty and graduate students. Because these options are not available to undergraduates, undergraduate student needs will be protected in other ways, said officials.

     According to Crist, some budget reductions must be made quickly, as journal subscriptions are up for renewal this fall and spending must be aligned with the new budget level. "We are consulting with the Research Library Council as we make the decisions that must be in place in the next few weeks. We plan to start with the journals proposed for elimination back in 1999." Those titles total about $300,000, and were identified in consultation with the faculty across the campus.

     "Because of the short time available, we will have to limit initial consultation. However, we will then immediately start a process to consult broadly with the campus to establish a more permanent budget plan," said Crist. In making those decisions, the Library will analyze its journal use data, review program strengths of the University, and consult with faculty and students.

     Fourteen members of the Research Library Council attended an emergency meeting on Oct. 2 to discuss the impact of the budget cut. Professor Robert A. Rothstein, chair of the council, said, "The council will do its best to advise the Library on possible next steps, and it is in a position to serve as liaison between the Library and the campus. We may be moving toward a different kind of library, but we must try to minimize the impact on users."

    At the meeting, Library staff members shared the criteria and rationale for how the immediate cuts will be taken.

     Over the last two years, the Library has strengthened its infrastructure to support the delivery of electronic information. "We were poised to deliver a much wider range of electronic resources to our users," said Jay Schafer, the coordinator of collection development. "Our great sadness now is that we will have to use the funding targeted to those resources to protect our basic strengths."