MEMORANDUM
Date:
May 29, 2015
To:
University of Oregon Faculty and Staff
From:
Adriene Lim, Dean of Libraries
Mark Watson, Associate Dean, Research Services
Subject:
Reductions in FY16 Library Collections Purchases
We are writing to inform the university community that, due to continued inflation in
library collections costs, we must reduce our level of collections purchases. This
coming year we projected that, as with previous years, estimated inflation will
decrease the Libraries’ spending power by 5% - 10%. The university has been able to
provide the library with both recurring and non-recurring increases over time, but
despite these significant investments, the budget for collections has not been able to
keep up with inflation.
The university’s FY16 budget process allowed the UO Libraries to present its case to
the Budget Advisory Group for increases to cover inflation for resources purchased in
support of teaching and research. We estimated $794,754 was needed to avoid
collections reductions (excluding the Law Library). While $500,000 was allocated to
the Libraries through the budget process ($456,778 excluding Law), this was not
sufficient to fully cover the increased costs, and a reduction of $337,976 in the
Libraries’ overall collections spending needs to be implemented as we move into the
new fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2015.
The last major review of the collections leading to cuts was conducted in 2009. Since
that time, the Libraries has been able to use a large carry-forward, generated by
cancellations, together with augments from the university to stave off further
reductions. However, at the end of FY 15, the carry-forward is depleted and the
$456,778 allocated through the FY 2016 budget process is not sufficient to avoid
reductions.
Summer is almost here, and time is short for you to collaborate with your subject
librarians to arrive at decisions as to which materials to cut. The decisions about
reductions need to be made as soon as possible in order to process timely
cancellations of continuing obligations. For this reason, the Libraries will use a
decision-making process that we think will be both expedient and thoughtful. The
process will include the following three steps:
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1. The Libraries will take reductions out of the portion of the collections budget
that supports infrastructure involved in providing access to library materials
(e.g., reserve and replacement funds, interlibrary loan fees, binding, and new
materials for the popular reading collection). These reductions will have little
to no direct impact on users, although they will necessitate some
adjustments and implementation of efficiencies behind the scenes.
2. Cuts will be made to discretionary funds set aside for one-time purchases.
These centrally administered funds have provided a means for making larger,
one-time purchases. Liquidating this line reduces our flexibility but also
mitigates the impact of the reductions on the fund lines that directly support
academic disciplines.
3. The remainder of the reductions will be proportionally spread across the
entire budget with each discipline funded at a level of $3,000 or more taking
a 5% across-the-board cut. The Libraries’ subject specialists will work with
contacts in each discipline to determine the best way to achieve the target
reduction. In some areas, monographic funds will be reduced more heavily
than serials, or vice versa.
The UO Libraries is committed to making the best use of the money made available
to support teaching and research. Indeed, the provision of high-quality content and
collections is a prominent goal in the library’s strategic plan. Even though reductions
are challenging, they are also inevitable—at least until the academy is able to regain
control of its intellectual output and help reshape a scholarly communications
ecosystem that has increasingly fallen into the purview of for-profit, commercial
publishers.
If you have questions, suggestions, or concerns, please address them to your Subject
Specialist (http://library.uoregon.edu/specialists), or contact Mark Watson at
mrwatson@uoregon.edu. Information about the collection review and reduction will
be posted on the Libraries’ web site at: http://library.uoregon.edu/node/4982.
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