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Memo to Faculty
To: Dartmouth College Faculty
From: Richard E. Lucier
Date: March 3, 2003
Subject: How the library budget cuts may affect you
As you know, the Library has had to cut its budget in certain areas for FY03
and FY04. In collaboration with the Council on Libraries, the Library established
a set of principles, posted on its website (see Challenges of Current Fiscal
Realities) as a preliminary to consultation
with faculty, students and staff to determine the cuts it eventually recommended
to the College administration. The Council on Libraries has asked me to clarify
how these cuts may affect you as members of the faculty.
Departmental Libraries:
- Sanborn will return to being a reading room, managed by the English Department, effective March 17, 2003. Unique print materials in Sanborn such as the poetry collection will be transferred to Baker-Berry. All audio tapes and CDs will be transferred to the Jones Media Center. All English course reserves will be moved to Baker-Berry Reserve Room. Current subscriptions to serials in Sanborn will be cancelled as they are also available in Baker-Berry. The English Department will set the hours for Sanborn and continue to serve afternoon tea. A new English Literature Librarian is being recruited by the Library.
- Sherman will continue as a separate library but with many of its services transferred to Baker-Berry including ILL (Inter-Library Loan), Circulation, and Reserves effective Summer Term 2003. Sherman will be open all hours that Berry is open. Assistance in Sherman and access from Carpenter will be available all weekdays until 8 PM as well as Sunday afternoon and evening. A new Visual Arts Librarian is being recruited who will provide service in both Sherman and Berry, as a consequence of the ever-increasing interdisciplinary nature of the visual arts. Berry Research and Instruction Services staff will also provide service for Sherman.
- The Cook Mathematics Collection will be transferred to the Berry Library, Level 3, effective Fall Term 2003. The Cook Mathematics Library in Bradley-Gerry will be closed. A faculty/library working group will make recommendations on the redesign of Level 3 to be accomplished with a recent gift.
- Hours in the Paddock Music Library will be reduced in the summer, beginning in summer 2003, in consultation with the Music Department faculty and users across campus.
Government Information:
The Library will maintain its status as a selective government documents depository. It will, however, rely more on new digital formats and reduce the number of paper documents it receives by 50%. A Government Documents Librarian has been recruited to provide expert-level service; a second vacant position in this area has been eliminated, thus curtailing the current level of service.
Collections:
Inflation in the cost of scholarly information has been in the double-digit range since the 1980's. The attached chart illustrates the 30% loss in purchasing power since 1988 at Dartmouth due to these spiraling costs. The Library is very active nationally to bring these costs under control and has had some success. The Library's new Digital Publication Program is one example of how faculty and the Library can collaborate to minimize the impact of commercial interests and runaway inflation.
With level funding for the collections budget and thus an expected 8-10% reduction in purchasing power due to inflation in the costs of scholarly materials in FY04, additional academic programs at Dartmouth, and increased research by Dartmouth faculty, we will:
- See the growth in many print and digital collections slow down;
- Rely more heavily on Borrow Direct, allowing us to easily acquire research materials from most Ivy League institutions;
- Focus on permanent access to digital content when multiple formats are available; and
- Order and catalog materials more slowly due to staff cuts in acquisitions and cataloging.
Special Collections/Rauner:
The archive and manuscript collections play a critical role in scholarship and learning at Dartmouth, and thus in the Library's future. The Library administration is carefully reviewing the impact of budget cuts and personnel changes on how we build, preserve and provide access to primary source materials. We are forming a search committee and will begin recruiting an archivist immediately. The Council on Libraries will focus on this issue in upcoming meetings, consulting with faculty, library staff and external experts to guide decisions in this important area. We are currently working with the Council on Library Resources/Mellon Foundation to establish Rauner as a fellowship site for Ph.D. humanists interested in curating primary source materials as a possible career track.
Library Staff:
This has been an enormously challenging time for Library staff who continue to serve faculty and students with great distinction. I applaud and thank them for this, as I know you do.
- Eliminating Positions: A total of ten Library staff positions will be eliminated and two reduced in time, for an aggregate reduction of 8.13 FTEs. Staff whose positions have already been eliminated have secured other employment within the Library, the College, or externally. We will continue to work with staff whose positions are still slated to be eliminated, but where such action has not yet been taken. Several positions had been on hold as we worked our way through these changes, including the Archivist, Visual Arts Librarian, and English Language Librarian. All are now being actively recruited.
- Leveraging Technology: With the reduced staffing levels, we will continue to leverage technology to assist staff in maintaining services, potentially reducing personal interaction. We seek your patience as we work our way through these challenges. Our goal continues to be to support scholarship and learning to the maximum extent possible.
Library Equipment:
Public and staff equipment will not be replaced according to the usual and recommended three-year cycle.
Ongoing Evaluation of Changes:
We plan to closely monitor all changes in library services so that adjustments
can be made proactively when possible within the context of fiscal realities.
Your feedback continues to be essential to us. Please contact me
directly (6-2236, Baker Room 115) or any faculty colleague who is a member
of the Council on Libraries.
Council on Libraries (Faculty Members)
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