University Library Committee Annual Report (2015-2016)
Membership:
Schools
Margaret Baldridge, Music (2016)
Steve Shen, Missoula College (2016)
Kate Brayko, C&I (2018)
Humanities (One)
Matthew Semanoff, MCLL (2017)- Chair
Sciences (One)
George Stanley, Geosciences (2016)
Social Sciences (One)
Meradeth Snow, Anthropology (2018)
Mansfield Library (Two)
Kate Zoellner (2017)
Teressa Keenan (2018)
Staff (One;One-year terms)
Kellyn Younggren
Student /Undergraduate (Two, one-year term)
Christina Keller
Jared Halverson
Meetings
During the academic year, the ULC meets on the second Monday of each month, 4:10-5:00 pm,
in the Dean’s Conference Room in the Mansfield Library (except on the first Monday in
December and May if necessary).
Committee Responsibilities


Communication: The University Library Committee (ULC) communicates between the
Faculty Senate and the library administration.
Advocacy: The ULC advocates on behalf of the development and maintenance of library
resources and services as well as the needs of library stakeholders, including faculty,
students and staff, especially as communicated through the Faculty
Senate. Additionally, the committee reviews library matters as they relate to the
University’s academic mission.

Review: The ULC reviews the annual library acquisitions budget and strategic plan. The
committee participates in the selection and periodic evaluations of the Dean of
Libraries. The committee also participates in the accreditation processes affecting or
involving the Mansfield Library.
The ULC is open to hear all concerns and questions from the faculty and the campus community
regarding the Mansfield Library (or the ULC): please contact its chair, or come to one of the
meetings.
More information about the ULC can be found on the committee website,
http://www.umt.edu/facultysenate/main/Library.htm.
Budget / Library Collection

Collection reduction
The plan at the beginning of the year was to cancel approximately $145,000 in ebooks, as
well as some memberships, monographs and media acquisitions due to the 6-9 percent
inflation on resources and flat budget for 2015-2016. The largest impact will be on the
humanities and social sciences. The larger subscription packages (vender bundles) were
maintained. After three years of cuts, UM’s collection is 1.2 million behind MSU’s. Then in
November, the President held a budget forum to inform campus of the need to reduce its
personnel budget due to another drop in enrollment. The ULC response to the budget
forum that was an information item at the December Faculty Senate item.

Library personnel reduction
The Library lost a total of 13 positions (11.5 FTE) by the end of January 2016 when the UM
personnel reduction decisions were made. This was the focus of a Kaimen article on
February 24th.
In 2004, the library’s FTEs were 71.24 compared to 67.27 in 2015, including library faculty,
staff, and student assistants. The library did not add positions during the high enrollment
period. It has always tried to maintain essential services with minimal staff.
a. Seven staff positions (Accounting Associate, ILL Tech., Metadata Tech., Reference
Tech., Web Support Specialist, Digital Production Tech., night Circulation
Supervisor)[six positions were vacant];
b. Three student positions (moved the salary payments to the Designated Funds);
c. One full-time tenure track faculty position (User Experience Librarian) [The library
was just about to bring candidates to campus for this vacancy.], and
d. A pool of two part-time adjunct faculty positions [The individuals in these positions
have been around for a while.] (a total of 40 hours).
The total general fund budget for these positions is $345,262.00. This means the library’s
operating funds will be cut by this number starting July 2016. The library has identified the
following impacts directly resulting from the loss of personnel and reduction of the operations
budget.
a. The responses/filled rates to the inter-library loan requests from the UM students
and faculty will be slow; the number of lending materials to other libraries,
especially to the libraries in Montana, will be reduced.
b. The number of new materials to be added to ScholarWorks will be reduced.
c. The UM faculty and students will see slowed delivering for electronic resources, due
to the lack of Web Support Specialist.
d. The UM faculty and students will see the reduced capability to improve online
library experience; will see slower responses to any reported web errors; will see
reduced capability to provide electronic resources in a timely fashion to off-campus
users; will see slowed access to e-books, e-journals, and databases when bad links
are not fixed in a timely manner.
e. The number of research and citation workshop offerings for students will be reduced
f.
as well as reference services.
There will be a reduced ability for liaison librarians to serve all campus departments,
Dean Zhang expressed concern regarding the Mansfield Library’s ability to maintain the current
hours of operation as a result of the reduction to the operations budget. Currently, the library is
open 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m. Monday – Thursday during Fall and Spring semesters, amounting
to 111 total hours per week during the academic year. This is considered the national norm
for university libraries. With the loss of the night Circulation Supervisor and other positions
at the library, the library is facing the immediate challenge of keeping the same opening
hours for fall 2016. In order to retain the same open hours ear-marked funding is needed
for one 20-hour per week staff and three students at 60 hours per week. This translates to
approximately $44,000 per year. For the fall semester and beyond, the library will need to
look elsewhere for funding to sustain the library’s opening hours. Ear-marked funding will
help protect this service as a student retention tool.
The Strategic Plan Oversight Committee and the Library Administrative Advisory Group are
reviewing library operations and workflows in relation to the reduced number of people
working in the library. The goals are to review priorities, put somethings on hold, and drop
the things that are no longer relevant to the needs of the UM community, based on current
staff levels.

Student fee / Resolution
The committee decided not to proceed with instituting a student fee for the library, due to ASUM
needing a fee increase for operations next year. The results of the Libqual survey show that
students appreciate the late night hours. ASUM senate expressed its support of the Mansfield
Library by passing SB49-15/16 (April 27, 2016), sponsored by ULC. This resolution encouraged
protecting the Mansfield Library specifically against those cuts that would affect changes to the
Mansfield Library’s hours of operations and from further budget cuts meant to remedy the
remaining 2.5% budget shortfall for 2016-2017.

Equipment Fee
The Library receives a percentage of the equipment fee paid by students separate from
tuition. This is used to replace existing faculty and staff computers on a four-year cycle.
The Library also gets a percentage of the instruction equipment fee which is used to
maintain or replace the equipment used by students.

Budget Gap / Resolution
In order to fill the budget gap the Provost’s Office asked each unit to contribute what they
could to fill the gap this spring. The library contributed money from operating and
collection funds. For 2016-2017, there is a budget gap of 2.5% at the university level.
Although additional reductions for the library are still unknown, the library is already losing
$345,262.00 through personnel reduction starting in July 2016. Further cuts to the library’s
budgets will reduce the library’s ability to provide essential services. In light of this the ULC
drafted and presented a resolution to advocate for the Library at the May Faculty Senate
meeting. Additionally, a resolution was passed by the Associated Students of the University
of Montana (SB49-1516) on April 27, 2016.
Facility / Technology

Library facility improvements
Twenty desktop computers were moved from Level 3 to Level 1 to create quiet study space
for students who use the library’s desktop computers. Eighteen new tables and chairs were
installed in designated quiet study areas on Level 5 to accommodate the need for additional
quiet study space. The Math Tech Learning Center on Level 1 is now open. It is equipped
with 48 desktop computers, and comfortable tables and chairs. The Center is primarily for
students enrolled in developmental math courses, other UM students can use the
computers if there is space. The carpet on Level 3 was cleaned during the summer. And
cleaning of upholstered chairs began during spring break and was completed this summer.
Any new chairs will be easier to keep clean.

Innovation/Technologies
The One Button Studio on Level 1 enables UM students, faculty and staff to produce quality
videos without needing complex training. The ULC was provided with a demonstration.

New integrated library system
UM and MSU purchased a new library system, Alma, with Ex Libris, the vendor focuses on
Cloud based technology for academic markets. UM has taken the lead in the
implementation of the state-wide library system, with 17 participating libraries from
Montana’s colleges and universities. John Greer, the library’s Head of IT and Systems, is the
Project Manager for the implementation. There are five functional implementation teams
with employees from both UM and MSU libraries. UM and MSU share a one-time
implementation cost. The costs of the annual subscription will be shared with all 17
participating libraries. A five year payment plan has been established for the Affiliate
libraries. It should be live sometime in December.

Learning Commons
The University will assemble a committee on Learning Commons. An architecture firm, LPW,
was selected by the State for the project design. Three architects from firm visited the
Mansfield Library and walked through the space for the Learning Commons. Currently
$300,000 has been raised for the project. It is hoped that this project may be able to be
completed without having to wait for funding the entrance remodel.
Outreach /Services/Exhibits

Donors newsletter
The ULC was provided with copies of the Connections newsletter that informs donors what the
Library has been doing and highlights some of the improvements to the Library. The donors
appreciate the quarterly updates.

Assessment response
The ULC was provided with a list of assessment responses that will be put into flyer format around
campus – We’ve Heard Your Voice. This informs the students that action has been taken from their
comments.

Summer services for students and visitors
The library hosted several sessions on how to access library resources for several visiting groups this
summer, including visitors from China, Japan, and other countries. Library faculty members also
participated in the campus orientation events to introduce students and parents to library services.

UM Academic Officers’ delegation to China
The library dean joined the UM Academic Officers’ delegation to China October 30th – November
11th, 2015. Dean Zhang worked with Paulo Zagalo-Melo (Associate Provost and Director of
International Programs) and Abe Kim (Mansfield Center Director) for a year on this project. The
delegation visited seven universities in Beijing, Nanning, and Shanghai. The Deans met and
discussed specific programs and projects with the Deans at the hosting institutions. There will be
follow-up with the deans and the Office of International Programs.

Visiting librarian from China
The Mansfield Library is hosting a visiting librarian, Ms.Jayne Xue, from the Kunming University of
Science and Technology in China, from October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016. She is working half
time assisting with library’s digital projects and the other half on her own research projects. The
visiting librarian will give two lectures next spring on universities and cultures in her home region.

Research Support
The Library supports research initiatives in a variety of ways. Dean Zhang distributed a flyer
that highlighted some of these prepared for the I x 5 Week (Innovate, Imaginative,
Inspirational, Interdisciplinary and International) celebrating research.
a. Showcasing faculty and student research output - There are over 17,000 items
available in ScholarWorks including faculty research publications, master theses and
doctoral dissertations, and abstracts and PPTs of undergraduate research projects.
These materials have been downloaded worldwide over 489,700 times.
ScholarWorks accommodates text, images, and other formats.
b. Assisting with Digital publication – The Mansfield Library hosts six literary
magazines published by the UM faculty via ScholarWorks which provides open
access to these magazines by worldwide audience.
c. Instruction in Data Management – The library faculty offered data management
classes to the campus and hosts research data sets, such as Flathead Lake Seismic
Survey data, in ScholarWorks, for access and preservation.
d. Hosting Research Conferences– The library uses ScholarWorks to host a series of UM
conferences, such as 2015 Clark Fork River Symposium, UM CUR, and UN GradCon.

Library programming
The library and MMAC’s will host Shakespeare’s First Folio on May 9 – 30, 2016. A series
of lectures will be planned during the exhibit.