Library Affairs
Report to the Faculty Senate, 2012 ** DRAFT **
SUMMARY
The Committee on Library Affairs has met five times during the 2011-2012 academic year to discuss the current state of the IU South Bend libraries (the Franklin D. Schurz Library and the Educational Resource Commons). Dean of Library Services Vicki Bloom has served as an ex officio member and we have invited staff members from the library to brief the committee on library policies, events, and acquisitions. Throughout the year, the focus of our committee has been the libraries’ budget and the resources the libraries need to continue providing desired, and necessary, services to students and faculty.
To that end, the Committee made an effort, using a web-based survey, to determine what the IU South Bend faculty expects of its libraries in regard to teaching and student research needs. One hundred and fifty three faculty and instructors responded, confirming their heavy reliance on article databases, books and media (See Appendix B). The committee also reviewed past Senate actions, with particular attention to the unanimous 2008 Senate resolution that stated:
WHEREAS the Higher Learning Commission has recently identified the monograph budget as a component of the campus that needs attention; …. AND further resolves that in absence of other guiding principle developed in consultation with the faculty and the Schurz Library librarians, that an appropriate level of base budget funding for monographs shall be understood as sufficient funding to purchase one monograph per student each year or 7500 monographs.
It should be noted that the number of monographs purchased in 2010 was approximately 75% short of that amount.
Like most units on campus, the library is feeling the crunch of doing more with less. However, the library is constrained by the annual inflation increases ranging from 5-10%[1] in the price of the resources faculty demand and students need—, most notably, electronic databases and journal subscriptions. Working within the confines of a flat collections budget, the Library has had to reduce the amount for monographs, media and music (one-time costs) every year to pay the rising subscription costs. This is especially detrimental to those faculty members teaching in the humanities: By 2013-14, there will be no departmental allocations for one-time purchases. In the following year, 2014-15, there will be no budget for items other than serials.
THE PRICE OF SUCCESS
The libraries are also affected by campus-wide changes and growth. Pricing of some materials, such as electronic database subscriptions, are based upon FTE levels. For example, The the database of full text articles in the psychology database, PsycArticles increased in cost from $6,360 per year to $10,615 in 2010 because campus FTE went over 5,000. While Academic Affairs did provide the library with a small increase to offset costs of that database and others that year, the Library cannot expect or rely on additional monies being available from the Executive Vice Chancellor’s office in the future.
Not only is IU South Bend a growing university in terms of students enrolling, but new majors, minors, certificate programs, and graduate degrees are being added to its catalogue each year. These new opportunities are good for the university, its colleges, faculty, and students. However, the role of, and demands placed on, the library in regard to these new programs is rarely an element considered when new programs are under development. Without adequate funding to match new programs, the libraries cannot be expected to effectively provide the resources that students and faculty within new programs will need to be successful (See Appendix A).
The Committee on Library Affairs views these challenges as potentially detrimental to the university’s academic mission and recommends that the Academic Senate consider endorsing a measure that would call for annual incremental increases to the libraries’ base budget.
IMPACT
In reviewing budget data and after speaking with members of the library staff and the Dean of Library Services, the committee has concluded that without an increase in the libraries’ base budget:
- The Library will not meet the needs of an expanding university. The Library receives no funds to assist with the creation of new programs, majors, or minors. Nor does it receive monies for expanded enrollments. Students and faculty may lack the resources to prepare for and complete courses; programs may lose accreditation.
- There may be no book budget in one year—the continuations budget (electronic journals and databases, e.g.) will overwhelm one-time purchases. There is an estimated at 5-8%. inflation rate among the library’s serial renewals. This is particularly concerning considering that 56% of faculty responding to the library survey identify books as “critical” to teaching and student research; another 34% identify books as “important.”
- Book-heavy disciplines in the humanities will find fewer of the necessary resources in the IU South Bend libraries. Book purchases by the library decline each year; for example, from 2,643 449 in 2008 to 1,490 in 2010. It is not surprising, then, that the collection is dated with the average date of publication at 1978.
Table 1
Year / Funds available / No. of titles order2008 / $192,239 / 2,449
2009 / $14437,431112 / 2,552
2010 / $154113,299748 / 1,490
2011 / $ 77,748151 / Not yet available
*The budget for reference materials has been severely cut to allow more departmental funds.
**The one-time addition for the 2009-2010 academic year was incorporated into the base budget, and subsequently became a permanent addition. So it is all base budget funding monographs at this point.
***The Library receives monies from Social Work ($5,656) and Informatics ($15,000). The money from Social Work only covers the cost for the database, Social Work Abstracts. Previously we received partial or full funding from the Raclin School of Arts for databases.
- Department funds for one-time purchases may be eliminated from the Schurz and ERC libraries’ budgets. This is predicted for 2013-2014.
- Costs of essential services such as interlibrary loan may be passed down to faculty. The IU South Bend Libraries annually budget $23,000 for interlibrary loan. This includes the software costs, shipping, charges from other libraries, copyright fees and other related expenses. Most of the time materials can be obtained from other libraries for free, but some institutions such as Harvard charge $15.00 per item for loan. In 2011 the Library paid $2,300 in charges and copyright fees. If our materials budget continues to be strained, the Library may need to ask departments/faculty (and potentially even students) to offset the costs.
- The libraries may stop adding any new journal subscriptions. Despite several requests in the queue, no new subscriptions have been added this year. The IU South Bend Libraries will be in a state of cancellation beginning 2013-2014 to keep the materials budget in the black. Serial cancellations by departments have been made in 2003, 2004-2005, and 2008. Some departments have only one or two titles remaining under their historic list of serial subscriptions. The Library has also cancelled titles, some reference and some microfilm, along with duplicate print titles of those in electronic form.
MARKETPLACE CHALLENGES
In addition to the budget constraints, there are significant issues in the marketplace that affect the library’s purchasing power.
First, there is no competition for some items (e.g., The Chronicle), leaving no option for the library to purchase a less expensive resource in place of one it can no longer afford. The cost of electronic editions, which are in high demand by faculty and students may be higher because of the greater access they provide users. This seems especially true for more popular titles. Below is a chart of sample titles.
Table 2:
Journal Title / Online 2012 / Print only cost 2012CELL / $1,425 / $1,360
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION / $ 4,550 / $82
NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS / $ 975 / $69
SCIENCE / $5,870 / $910
JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY / $1,394 / $914
Second, institutional rates charged by publishers are very expensive. The cost of electronic editions, which are in high demand by faculty and students, are sometimes higher because of the greater access they provide users. As an example, faculty subscribing at home to the print journal Ethnography would pay $100; the institutional online price for the library is $780.00.
Third, journals which are bundled in packages for competitive pricing often do not come with options to pay less for those titles that are not used or wanted.
Fourth, prices for books have increased as well, due to the rise in materials costs and shorter print runs, further constraining the libraries’ ability to increase its monograph collection. This increases the likelihood that titles sell out, eliminating our chance to purchase the books at all.
It has become clear to the committee that many of the cost increases the libraries face are out of their control. The publishers and owners of materials are not likely to change their approach on the sale of critical research materials as long as the tenure model is based upon this publication and distribution process. Until new scholarly communication models are in place, the base budget increase becomes the libraries’ only choice for maintaining basic levels of information access. Without the increase, the options are limited and mainly include ordering and retaining fewer resources for research and teaching needs.
CONCLUSION
The IU South Bend libraries are at a critical juncture given that the current collections cannot be sustained without an annual increase in the collections’ base budget. The 2008 Senate resolution has not been met in yearssince it was passed; instead, we have witnessed the monograph budget being depleted to pay for rising subscription costs. Every year the book, music and media collections become dated, due to fewer and fewer number of new titles purchased. By 2013, there will be no monies allocated to purchase monographs, music and media. This is unacceptable. Additionally, new journal subscriptions are not being added to support new course offerings and programs. This, too, is unacceptable. Passing on the costs of research and curriculum development to faculty and students is unacceptable as well.
Faculty and student success depend upon strong library resources. It is therefore recommended that the IU South Bend Libraries be given a minimum increase of $50130,000 each year to its base budget to maintain and expand the monograph collection. The committee suggests providing funds to add 4,000 monographs per year rather than 7500[2]. An additional $30,000 should be added to the base budget annually to offset the impact of serials inflation,; to purchase and subscribe to requested material to keep information access current and relevant to existing programs,; and to provide funds for the purchase/subscription of materials to support new programs. With this the IU South Bend Libraries will continue to take advantage of consortial purchasing, identify cost savings, monitor usage, keep abreast of curricular changes, and judiciously spend the collections budget.
Appendix A: COSTS OF NEW AND EXPANDED PROGRAMS, MAJORS, AND MINORS
Case study #1
Masters in Music is a relatively new graduate program in the Raclin School for the Arts. From courses in theory and music bibliography to pedagogy and piano, more research level materials (books, scores, journals, music and media) are needed to support these students as well as meet accreditation standards. The music database, RILM was added in 2010 specifically for graduate study. Since piano proficiency and three semesters in an music ensemble are requited, the Library’s score collection needs to be greatly expanded, as does the monograph collection in such areas as theory, electronic music, ethnomusicology, just to name a few.
The Schurz Library holds 7,720 titles composed of journals, books, and media specific to Music including collected works, vocal music, literature of music, and music instruction and study. The chart below shows the number of college titles published in each of the given years, the average costs of the titles and the cost to purchase all of the titles published in each of the years. The library allocation for the Arts which includes music is listed along with the number of titles held per date. The library has averaged a purchase of about 20% of available titles over the past three years for this discipline.
Year / Number of titles Published / Average Cost / Cost to purchase all / Arts Allocation / Number of titles held in Schurz Library2008 / 157 / 59.97 / 9,415 / $ 12,111 / 36
2009 / 116 / 54.62 / 6,335 / $ 8,846 / 28
2010 / 123 / 61.01 / 7,504 / $ 6,804 / 20
Source: Library and Book Trade Almanac, 2011
**Allocation for Arts includes the amount given to the entire college: Music, Fine Arts, Communication Arts, and Theatre
Case study #2
Sociology has now expanded to include courses in Anthropology. The library holds 1073 titles composed of journals, books, and media specific to Anthropology. The average publication date of those items is 1980. Publishing data from the last three years shows the number of college titles published in anthropology, the average cost, and the total to purchase all of the college titles published. The last column shows how many titles are in the Schurz library collection for anthropology by date of publication. The library is purchasing about 7% of titles published in a given year.