The University of California’s SLASIAC Library Planning Task Force has released the draft University of California Systemwide Library and Scholarly Information Advisory Committee Library Planning Task Force Interim Report.
Here's an excerpt:
Based on estimates developed by staff, the Task Force anticipates that:
- As a result of the combined effects of the obligation to fully fund the retirement system and to absorb a cut of $500 million to $1 billion in State funding, the libraries may experience budget reductions of as much as $52 million, or 21 percent of their current budget base, over the next six years. To put this into perspective, this cut is greater than the total library budget of any single UC campus, and roughly equivalent to the budgets of three of our mid-sized campuses, all AAU members.
- As a result of ongoing increases in the prices charged by publishers for scholarly material in both print and digital formats, the libraries will likely lose the equivalent of $17 million in buying power over the same period. This is equivalent to the current library materials budgets of two mid-sized campuses, and means a reduction in the systemwide acquisition rate of about 200,000 items per year.
- Existing library facilities will run out of space for new materials over the next 5-7 years (some are already at capacity) even as demand increases for extended hours and services and technologically well-equipped and flexible learning environments in the libraries’ prime campus locations.
Read more about it at "UC Libraries Must Increase Sharing to Weather Cuts."
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