University Library Committee Annual Report, 2014-2015
Membership
Schools
Ronald Wakimoto, Ecosystem & Conservation Sciences (2015)
Emily Plant, Management (2015)
Margaret Baldridge, Music (Chair) (2016)
Steve Shen, Missoula College (2016)
Humanities
Matthew Semanoff, MCLL (2017)
Sciences
George Stanley, Geosciences (2016)
Social Sciences
Vacant
Mansfield Library
Barry Brown (2015)
Kate Zoellner (2017)
Staff
Mike Maas (fall-only)
Student members
student members did not attend meetings.
Ex-Officio (Non-voting)
Shali Zhang, Library Dean
Meetings
During the academic year, the ULC met 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).
Committee Responsibilities
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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.
Operations Items
Budget
 The University Library Committee members were provided with the materials budget at the first
meeting.
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The University Library Committee met with Provost Brown and Vice President Reid to discuss the
budget situation in December. Vice President Reid explained how the funding process works. The
reduction decisions were made by the Provost working with the deans to protect the academic
core. It is difficult to determine how the library would factor into the funding model in terms of
student FTE. Academic Affairs includes two funding categories, instruction and academic support
services. Instruction was protected to assure courses are available for students. Instruction took a
2% reduction and all other sectors including academic support took an 8% reduction to get to the
16 million shortfall. The inflationary increase was taken off the top to reduce the reduction to
instruction. This resulted in more than an 8% reduction to the library.
UM’s library expenditures are 70% lower than its peers. (Comparison document appended.)
The Provost and VP Reid suggested the Committee look at areas of the University that are healthy
rather than argue its connection to state support. Students could propose a fee to support the
library.
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Several ASUM students (members of the ASUM Budget Committee) were guests to the February
meeting to discuss the consideration of a possible student library fee. At this point in time the
Library Faculty are not in favor of a fee if it isn’t necessary. If the budget situation worsens this
might be considered as an option. The process to implement a fee would start next academic
year.
The Library Faculty were given the reduction expectation based on a conservative projection for
2015-2016. Dean Zhang encouraged them to look at all aspects of library operations for possible
cuts.
Chair Baldridge and Professor Brown met with the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate in
April to discuss the possibility of re-affirming the resolution that the administration not cut the
library more than academic programs and that inflation must be a consideration when calculating
the impact of the reduction on the collection. The collection is a campus resource and has in the
past been funded with a 7-8% inflationary cost. Chair Baldridge presented the Re-affirmation of
the Resolution to the Faculty Senate April 9th. The Resolution was again approved. At the meeting
Provost Brown indicated the Library did not receive a base budget cut in the 2015-2016 revised
budget.
Facility/ Technology
 The Theta Rho room has been updated with new tables and chairs to make it a space for lectures,
receptions, instruction, and quiet study.
 A Veterans Group Study Room was created as a result of a grant in collaboration with Shawn
Grove, Director of UM’s Veterans Education and Transition Services Office, and the Office of the
Commissioner of Higher Education. The room has new furniture and computers. Lieutenant
Governor and University Officers visited the student Veterans Group Study Room prior the
Veterans’ Day. The Room has been heavily used by student veterans since its renovation.
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All instructional rooms are equipped with wide project screens, wireless projectors, key boards,
and mice, and wall mounted computers.
New purchases include a Microfiche reader and3D printer.
A Listening/Viewing Room is being upgraded with repairs, new paint, and carpet.
The library is planning tech/data ports upgrades on Level 1-2 and Level 4-5, to take advantage of
technological upgrades on Level 1 with TAACCC funding (for a Developmental Math Lab) and on
Level 4 with Max Baucus fund (for organizing and preserving his born-digital materials).
The Library is participating in state-wide collaborations.
o 14 Montana colleges and Universities are implementing the Primo discovery platform.
o The UM and MSU Library Deans are discussing options to fund a new integrated library
system.
Collections
 The Mansfield Library’s Federal Depository Library program eight-year review, completed by
Government Documents Librarian Susanne Caro, received excellent comments from the
Government Printing Office and was featured on the GPO Spotlight Library web site, at
http://www.fdlp.gov/all-newsletters/depository-library-spotlight/2145-university-of-montanamansfield-library December 23, 2014.
 ScholarWorks, the library’s Institutional Repository service that showcases published and
unpublished works by UM faculty, students, and staff has had a lot of growth in the 18 months
that it has been available; as of February 2015 there were over 10,741 items available by UM
faculty and students and these works have been downloaded over 247,602 times.
Assessment
 Two library faculty, Sue Samson, Instruction Coordinator,and Kate Zoellner, Assessment
Coordinator, gave a presentation on information literacy and library assessment at the MUS BOR
Outcomes Assessment Workshop held at the UM campus on September 22.
 The library conducted an online service quality survey, LibQUAL+, campus-wide from March 6-23.
The survey helps the Library better understand the UM community’s perceptions and
expectations of library services, identify areas to concentrate service improvements and compare
itself against other libraries to determine best practices. Results will be available to campus during
Fall 2015.
Outreach
 ULC Committee Members were provided with the library’s newsletters, Connections and
SNMIPNUNTN as well as the Library’s Annual Report.
 The library received a federal National Leadership Grants for Libraries grant in the amount of
$49,343, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for a project titled EIRE
(Electronic Irish Research Experience), to develop a model to convey online the Irish American
experience, with primary resources and scholarly contents. This is a collaborative effort with the
Irish Studies Department (Professor Traolach O’Riordain), the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives
(Director Ellen Crain), the University College Cork, in Ireland, and the Mansfield Library.
 Library employees are working with Missoula College on the Developmental Math Lab funded
through a multi-campus Workforce Development Grant administered by Great Falls. The Lab is
being developed on the first floor of the library.
 Library faculty Associate Prof. Megan Stark, Undergraduate Services Librarian, and various staff
members participated in Fall and Spring orientations, as well as orientations for transfer students.
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Associate Prof. Samantha Hines, Head of the Mansfield Library at Missoula College, participated in
orientations on the MC campus. .
The library hosted the President’s box for a basketball game in January. Library faculty, staff, and
donors attended. The donors enjoyed the gathering event.
The Library’s focus for the capital campaign is the learning commons and research collections built
into endowments.
Events and Exhibits
 “Celebrating 50th Anniversary of Wilderness Act,” included three public lectures as well as
physical displays and a series of five videos.
 A “Big Read” exhibit was designed to complement the partnership between UM and the Missoula
Public Library on the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program and First-Year Reading
Experience
 “Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings,” produced by the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), was on display at the Library from October 26-December
17, 2014. In addition to the library, support for the exhibit was provided by Humanities Montana,
the Davidson Honors College, the College of Humanities and Sciences, Diversity Advisory Council
and in partnership with the departments of History, English, Political Science, Sociology, and
Liberal Studies, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Global Leadership Initiative, the
University Center Art Gallery, the University Center Theater, the Montana Human Rights Network,
and the Missoula Public Library. There were eight public lectures and a program for K-12
educators designed around the exhibit.
 For October Archives Month the library ran a photo caption contest and hosted a lecture on
October 22nd by Professor Dennis Swibold on the School of Journalism’s history and the value of
preserving history.
 The library is working with the College of Visual and Performing Arts on raising funds and
designing a space to host Professor Bill Raoul’s music CD collections and to make them openly
accessible. Professor Raoul passed away in August this year.
 “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War”, organized by the American Library Association and
the National Constitution Center, was on display at the library from January 27-March 6. The
exhibit was a collaboration with Rob Saldin, Director of the Project on American Democracy, and
Tobin Miller Shearer, Director of the American-American Studies Program. There were two
lectures in conjunction with the display.
 UM was selected as Montana’s host site for “First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare,” a
national traveling exhibition offered by the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs
Office, in collaboration with the Folger Shakespeare Library and Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC),
of one of the world’s most treasured books – the Shakespeare First Folio. The proposal was a
collaboration between the Mansfield Library and the Missoula Museum of Art & Culture.
Hiring
 The Political Papers Archivist, Adjunct Assistant Professor Natalie Bond, started on December 1,
2014, to help process the Baucus’ papers. The three-year position is funded through the donation
by the former senator.The E-Learning and Instructional Technology Librarian, Assistant Professor
Adrienne Alger, started on March 1, 2015.
 The Fiscal and Personnel Manager, Deborah Kelley, started on January 1, 2015.
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The Learning and Testing Center Coordinator, Beth McHugh, started at the Bitterroot College this
spring. The library contributes 10 hours per week for her time to help the students with library
resources. This arrangement will save travel for the Head of the Mansfield Library at Missoula
College.
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Appendix 1
Collection Budget Allocations: FY2014 and FY2015 -­­ One Year comparison
FY 2014
Acquisitions Budget = $4,826,680 (Aug 2013)
FY 2015
Acquisitions Budget = $4,210,948 (Aug 2014)
Serials (print subscriptions) = $237,752
Electronic Resources = $3,349,434
Serials (print subscriptions) = $131,875
Electronic Resources = $3,148,791
Monographs & Media = $905,188
Standing Orders = $81,688
Core Approval Plan = $220,000
Supplemental Fund = $182,400
Ebook Sub./ Econtent = $245,100
Digitization Projects = $176,000
Collection Utilities = $329,306
Binding = $5,000
Monographs & Media = $675,282
Standing Orders = $39,220
Core Approval Plan = $250,000
Supplemental Fund = $110,062
Ebook Sub./ Econtent
Digitization Projects = $31,00
Collection Utilities = $220,000
Binding = $5,000
Postage / Mailing = $30,000
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Appendix 2
Mansfield Library Peer Libraries
Comparison of Total Library Expenditures Per Student FTE
University
Flagship Carnegie
States
Research
<2 mil
Classification
FTE
12 Month
Enrollment
(NCES 2012)
Total Library
Expenditures
Expenditures per
Student FTE
(NCES 2012)
MSU Bozeman
Univ. AK Fairbanks
Univ. Delaware
Univ. Hawaii Manoa
Univ. Idaho
Univ. Maine
Univ. Montana
Univ. New Hampshire
Univ. North Dakota
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
11,779
6,585
19,981
16,884
10,968
9,645
13,407
14,846
12,424
$7,922,366
$8,024,942
$19,409,146
$18,381,558
$7,291,039
$8,282,479
$7,524,333
$10,602,431
$7,749,607
$673
$1,219
$971
$1,089
$665
$859
$561
$714
$624
RU / VH
RU / H
RU / VH
RU / VH
RU / H
RU / H
RU / H
RU / H
RU / H
University
Flagship Carnegie
States
Research
<2 mil
Classification
FTE
12 Month
Enrollment
(NCES 2012)
Total Library
Expenditures
Expenditures per
Student FTE
(NCES 2012)
Univ. Rhode Island
Univ. South Dakota
Univ. Vermont
Univ. Wyoming
West Virg. Univ.
X
X
X
X
X
14,564
7,440
12,274
11,100
27,299
$6,774,756
$3,179,928
$12,638,395
$12,632,877
not reported
$465
$427
$1,030
$1,138
NA
RU / H
RU / H
RU / H
RU / H
RU / H
Notes:
 Flagship Universities were identified from UM Missoula Peer Selection Options document (Nov. 7,
2013) received from VP Michael Reid
 NCES = National Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov/)
 Latest NCES data available is 2012
 RU / VH = Research University Very High
 RU / H = Research University High
 Total Library Expenditures Per Student FTE rounded to nearest dollar
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Comparison Group Average = $803 Total Library Expenditures Per Student FTE (2012)
80% of Comparison Group Average = $642 Total Library Expenditures Per Student FTE (2012)
The Mansfield Library is 3rd from the bottom (out of 13 Peer Libraries) in Total Library
Expenditures Per Student FTE (2012)
 The Mansfield Library is 30% below (or at 70% of) the Comparison Group Average for Total Library
Expenditures Per Student FTE (2012)
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Appendix 3
University Library Committee Report to the Faculty Senate
April 9, 2015
Library Budget Events 2014:
 During proposed budget cuts spring 2014, The University Library Committee
generated a resolution to the Faculty Senate.
 The Senate supported this resolution. May 8th 2014.
 The ASUM Senate also passed a similar resolution.
 Despite the resolution the library was considered to be an academic support area
and took an 8% cut with all other support areas.
 The Library also did not receive the inflationary increase to its collection budget
which is part of “present law adjustment” and necessary to maintain current
collections.
 These accumulated losses (8% of the library base and no inflationary increase)
resulted in major cuts to the library budget and resulted in the cancellation of many
journals and databases and reduced purchasing of monographs and media.
Link to Budget Resolution Supported by the Faculty Senate May 8th 2014:
The two paragraphs below are the most important paragraphs for the Upper
Administration and faculty to remember:
"Therefore, Let it Be it Resolved, that the Faculty Senate asks the
President, Provost, and Vice President for Administration and Finance to
not cut the library budget proportionately more than other academic
instruction departments; and
Therefore, Let it Be it Further Resolved, that the Faculty Senate asks the
President, Provost, and Vice President for Administration and Finance to
provide adequate yearly inflationary increases to the library collections
budget."
Budget projections for 2015-16:
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The Library has been told that there will be no inflationary money for the collection
budget for FY16 and budget cuts are planned.
Information about the amount of a base budget cut for the library has varied over
the last couple months and may vary over the next few months.
*The current collection budget is $4,210,948. With an expected
inflationary increase of 8% next year that equals $336,000 additional
funds needed to maintain the same level of collections in FY 2016.
If the library is not receiving those additional funds then the library needs
to plan on reductions to various parts of its budget with collections
being the biggest part. *numbers provided by Professor Barry Brown
Cuts to the collection for next year are being considered and will be proposed to the
campus in mid-April.
Summary:
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The University Library Committee would like to remind President Engstrom,
Provost Brown and Vice President Reid and the Faculty Senate of the resolution
that was supported by the Faculty Senate last year, specifically the two paragraphs
that relate to the need for inflationary money for the collection and the hope that the
library’s cuts do not exceed the percentage of cuts to other areas.
We would like to remind the university administration and the campus community
of the value of the library and vital role that the library plays as a fundamental
resource in the education and academic research of the students and faculty.