Budget Hearing Update

Last week Holly and I presented at the FY15 Budget Hearing. I have mentioned this in other venues including my message, but to remind folks the hearing was an opportunity to present our budget to the Provost and members of his budget committee. The information we provided included our current financial status and how we will manage a 3% permanent budget reduction for FY16, hiring plans, and what specific areas we will focus on for both investment and divestment. We made our case to the panel that we play a significant role in the health of the University and its aspirations. We talked about the kind of essential resources and services we provide, the increased pressures we are seeing from our users, and how we see our ability to continue to manage the expectations of those users with continued cuts to our operating budget. We also shared information on the wider conversation regarding trends in academic libraries and the strategies being employed at a national level as we strive to be the world-class library the University expects. They were appreciative of our role and the information we provided. In a follow up meeting with the Provost’s office this week after the Governor’s proposed budget, we were asked to prepare for more significant cuts. We are awaiting further word on what that means as no final decision has been made.

Staffing Update

AUL for Collections & Discovery Search
It is my pleasure to formally announce that Patrick Carr has accepted our offer to join the University of Connecticut to lead our collection and discovery efforts. As many of you communicated through feedback from his visit, his depth of experience in the stewardship of collections including acquisitions, collection development, and e-resource management will be a significant asset to the Libraries as we look towards the future of collection management. Patrick will be leaving his position as Assistant Director for Acquisitions & Collection Management for the Joyner Library in the much warmer climate at East Carolina University in the next few weeks and will join us officially on March 20th. Please stay tuned for more information regarding a welcome coffee.

Archives & Special Collections
After more than 38 years, Terri Goldich has submitted her intent to retire this June. The members of the archives unit have been working to reassign her primary role as archivist for the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection (NCLC). The NCLC began in the 1960’s with a donation of about 600 volumes and has grown into a nationally recognized resource for researchers and an integral part of Archives & Special Collections. The collection now includes more than 44,000 children’s books as well as the manuscripts of over 125 authors and illustrators. To continue the forward progress, Kristin Eshelman will be taking on the responsibilities for the collection this summer. She will turn the reins of the institution repository over to Betsy Pittman next month.

Music & Dramatic Arts Library

Earlier this week Dean Brid Grant coordinated a public forum for students in the School of Fine Arts to discuss their ideas for what that library might look like in the future. The goal was to learn more specifics about which collections, services, and hours they rely on the most. The forum began with a discussion of the University’s Master Plan with Beverly Wood which included a closer look at a production facility being built for them and a look at how the south side of campus will connect with the north side in the future. We received great feedback from them and the next step is to coordinate a survey to drill further into the details.