LB.00.01
February 14, 2000

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN SENATE

Committee on the Library
(Final;Action)

LB.00.01 Resolution on Future Library Budgets

Whereas in the spring of 1999, the Senate resolved that sufficient annual permanent increments be provided the Library so that by FY 2004 the Library will be able to adequately serve the scholarly needs of its constituencies (estimated to require $45 million), recognizing the need to develop and implement a new process of allocating acquisitions resources in addition to the need to secure permanent annual increments,

Whereas the acquisitions budget of the UIUC Library has for many years been based on "history plus increment,"

Whereas the base on which these increments have grown represents the intellectual structure of the university in bygone decades,

Whereas most academic units perceive that their needs for information access are not adequately met by current acquisitions policies of the Library,

Whereas, even in the best of circumstances, resources will be strained to provide adequate access to information for the foreseeable future,

Whereas the Campus Library Policy Committee was established in part to report to the Provost and the Campus Budget Oversight Committee on priorities and needs of the Library, and

Whereas the Campus Budget Oversight Committee has indicated that clear priorities are needed to adequately evaluate Library budgets,

Be it resolved that the Senate recommends that the Campus Library Policy Committee and the UIUC Library devise a systematic means to allocate acquisitions resources, with goals of developing a system for acquisitions budgeting which protects the interests of library users (largely faculty and students), responds to changing informational needs in the University, and reflects the current and near-future intellectual structure of the University.

Recognizing the complexity of budgeting due to the diversity of the intellectual enterprise, we recommend acquisition budgeting take into account information on the size and cost of literature in each field, impact on the full range of users of the Library, and the future scholarly needs of the campus. This proposed budgeting should be subject to public hearings. In light of the number of such hearings implicit in thorough rebudgeting, we recognize that it is unreasonable to complete this task during FY00. However, we would hope to see some rebudgeting occurring for FY01, with all Libraries reviewed and hearings held prior to the end of spring semester, 2001.

Senate Committee on the Library
Alex Scheeline, Chair
Tony Kaufman
Peter W. Sauer
Bettina M. Francis
Rene Mueller
Christopher Silver
Molly Haugen
Michael Murphy
Linda C. Smith
Paula Kaufman (ex officio)
F. Adele Proctor
Leslie Struble