Library News for the Faculty

From University Librarian Gary E. Strong

Like many departments and programs on campus, the Library is dealing with major uncertainties as I and my managers plan the budget for the current fiscal year. However, unlike many schools and departments, the Library receives more than eighty-five percent of its budget from state funds, which introduces a further degree of uncertainty into our planning process.

As of press time, we have not been told what our allocation will be this year. Given the grim situation faced by the state and competing priorities on campus, it may well be that the best we can hope for is to receive the same amount as we did last year.

However, a flat allocation does not take into account the increased costs we are facing. These include expenses that were formerly covered centrally by the campus, which are being passed on to units.

Campus Expenses
Sometime this year the campus will begin billing units for utilities and deferred maintenance on their buildings. The Library system ranks second on campus in terms of real estate, and the utilities will be based on square footage, so these costs will be substantial. However, many library spaces serve a common-good function rather than a function specifically related to library services or resources, so we are in discussions with the campus about taking those areas out of our square-footage calculation. Library buildings or sections of buildings are not metered individually, so it is impossible to specifically calculate our usage; we've also called this to the attention of campus facilities managers.

In addition, units must pay for the costs of employee benefits and any salary increases mandated by union contracts. Furthermore, the campus allocation for student employees covers only about a quarter of the amount we need. Because students provide essential operational services such as circulation and book reshelving, we have paid their wages out of salary savings from open positions. But with the restructurings we've previously completed to consolidate functional areas, open positions we've had to give back to the campus, and retirements of longtime staff, we need to fill a number of those positions with permanent employees.

Collections Price Increases
I know that you will be particularly concerned about our collections budget. Prices of collections materials continue to rise; in particular, journal publishers, especially in the sciences, often increase subscription prices at rates far exceeding the rate of inflation. Although the value of the dollar has slowly gained against many world currencies in recent months, it is still far from parity against the euro and pound, which makes items from the UK and Europe particularly expensive. And the price of gas has increased shipping costs substantially.

Presented with these realities, which give us less money with which to support collections and provide services, we've been doing advance planning for some time. I've asked all Library units to plan their activities for the 2008-09 fiscal year as though they would have ninety percent of the allocation they had last fiscal year. This has offered opportunities for creative thinking, but it has also resulted in proposals that would have a direct public impact.

Protecting Collections and Services
As always, a major priority is to protect our collections budget, since books, journals, and archival materials are essential to teaching and research on campus. We have assigned allocations to the subject specialists and encouraged them to spend their allocations earlier in the year, rather than waiting until the end of the fiscal year.

We also leverage the collective strength of the UC system. Subject specialists consult with their colleagues on other UC campuses on an ongoing basis to collaboratively build collections. We participate in many journal package licenses with other campuses, which lower the per-campus cost and provide more titles. Users can request items held by other UC campuses quickly and easily through Request and the UC-eLinks services in Melvyl and UC-licensed article databases, and with the Southern Regional Library Facility located at UCLA, stored items from the five southern UC campuses are readily accessible.

In addition, we've focused on consolidating behind-the-scenes operations whenever possible, both across campus and with our UC colleagues. Sustaining user-centered services like reference assistance and instructional support and creating new methods of access to collections and services remain a priority. We also hope that we will not have to reduce the hours any of the campus libraries are open.

Increased Fundraising
To compensate for a flat allocation, our fundraising efforts have increased. We've successfully applied for several major grants in the past year, the most recent one of $750,000 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to catalog more than fifty-five thousand rare books and make them more accessible to users. We also continue to attract new members of Library Associates, our annual giving program; their contributions support the Library's discretionary fund, which I direct as needed to address urgent collections, services, and facilities needs.

As you can see, this year and probably next year will be challenging ones for the Library. We're hopeful that our planning will enable us to identify and meet the challenges, but I acknowledge that we will need to think creatively and make difficult decisions. If you have thoughts, suggestions, or concerns about the Library's budget, I encourage you to speak with your subject specialist or with me directly; you can reach me by phone at 310.825.1201 or by email.