Joyner Library Collections Reductions
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Joyner Library is preparing for a reduction to its total budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010. The reduction will affect all areas of the library, including collections, personnel, and operations. At a minimum, the cut will be 9%, and may exceed 20%. If implemented at the 9% level ($1,308,198), the collections budget must be reduced by $412,763 from last year's allocations. If implemented at the 20% level ($2,907,106), the collections budget must be reduced by $1,728,662. As of mid-July, our anticipated total reduction is $1,434,384.
Achieving savings of this magnitude will be particularly challenging. We must make cuts, and they will result in reduced book purchases and cancelled journals and databases in all subject areas. Liaison librarians will seek feedback from departmental faculty as we conduct the necessary cancellations. Cancellation lists and information will be posted to the Collection Development Web page and linked below.
The Library is committed to working with members of the ECU community to get your input on cancellation options. We appreciate your understanding as we make difficult decisions on behalf of the University.
Cancellation Lists:
Principles and Reductions Strategies
We plan to reduce monograph purchases by as much as 75%. Orders will be restricted to essential items needed for research and teaching and those that are not likely to be available for purchase at a later date. Because nearly 80% of the Libraries' collections budget is spent on recurring serial subscriptions, i.e., databases, journals, annuals, etc., much of our savings must come here. This means we cannot avoid cancellations of significant numbers of resources that are currently used by faculty, staff and students. During this period of constraint, we will:
- Continue to evaluate indexing/abstracting services and database content for overlap, usability, and current need;
- To the greatest extent possible, eliminate overlapping content both within our database and across formats;
- Strive to retain as much "unique" content as possible and try to provide alternative access for materials we are no longer able to provide locally;
- Consider appropriate metrics in making cancellation decisions, including: usage statistics, cost ratios, citation practices, impact factors, etc.;
- Incorporate feedback from faculty, staff, and students concerning the relative importance of resources in their areas; and
- Work with our colleagues at Laupus Library to ensure that the needs of the entire campus are considered, particularly where expenditures from the Virtual Library @ ECU budget line are involved.
Comments and Feedback
Please send comments to your liaison librarian or to Joseph Thomas, Head of Collection Development.
Academic Library Services Budget Chronology 2008-2009
