University Councils and Committees

University Library Committee

Dru Frykberg, 294-4353

Committee Meeting Date: November 11, 2005

Major agenda items discussed/committee action taken:

More discussion about the library’s budget and plans to lobby for a student library fee of about $100 a semester.

The committee is considering sending an open letter to the ISU community making a case for the student fee as well as lobbying to ensure that under the new ISU budget model the library’s materials & access budget falls under the central administration’s mandatory funding.

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: Dec. 16, 2005