University Councils and Committees

University Library Committee

Dru Frykberg, 294-4353

Committee Meeting Date: October 21, 2005

Major agenda items discussed/committee action taken:

• A campus-wide University Library e-Newsletter will be coming out in October
• There is concern about the FY07 budget, specifically the planned reallocation of $94,000
• There is also a consensus the library must be proactive regarding plans for a new university budget model
• Because of these concerns, the committee in November will consider a resolution calling for mandatory library budget increases and asking that library funding be part of the central university budget under a new budget model
• Library Dean Olivia Madison said a journal cancellation project in 2008 would be inevitable if nothing changes in terms of library funding
• The library is exploring a library fee for students, which could be about $100 a semester for undergraduates and $80 for graduate students. President Geoffroy has said he would like such a charge to be fee-based rather than tuition-based.

Potential impact on P&S employees:

The library budget is not keeping up with the rising costs of journals and other library materials. As a result, P&S employees could be impacted by a library with fewer materials that is slipping in terms of the American Research Library ranking (currently 79th out of 123 research libraries).

To offset inflation, the library and the University Library Committee are considering implementing a student library enhancement fee. This would affect P&S employees who are taking classes. The fee could be $100 a semester for undergraduates and $80 a semester for graduate students.

Next committee meeting date: Nov. 11, 2005