During the spring semester, Binghamton University Libraries anticipated a $450,000 budget cut in electronic resources and print periodicals for the current semester due to a campuswide budget reduction. Now, University Libraries are braced for the blow, but the exact amount to be cut has yet to be determined.
The plan for reaching any necessary budget cuts includes holding the book budget flat, according to Curtis Kendrick, dean of University Libraries. Book prices generally inflate about 3.5 percent annually, which lowers the University’s purchasing power of books, but also spares books the worst of the cut.
Because of book price inflation, the book budget has been cut disproportionately over the past years. To avoid further issues, University Libraries also plans on cutting high-cost and low-use electronic and print periodicals, specifically titles for which the cost per use is over $75.
While several budget cuts have been implemented already, Kendrick said he still does not know the full extent of the potential budget cuts facing nearly every department.
“We’re trying to take a rational, evidence-based approach by looking at usage and cost per use,” Kendrick said. “The data will drive the decisions, as we do not wish to single out any department.”
In addition to cutting high cost-per-use titles, the department plans to apply a cut across subject funds based on each fund’s share of the total print periodical and electronic resources budget.
Kendrick issued a statement in late August regarding the proposed cancellations to library resources for the current academic year. According to the press release, subject librarians have been carefully reviewing collections to identify the titles to cancel that will be least disruptive to the University’s ability to support research, scholarship, teaching and learning.
A list of titles was compiled for “early cancellation decision.” However, the fall cancellation list, composed of titles and databases, is still contingent upon the severity of any reduction and is not final.
Michael McGoff, senior vice provost and chief financial officer, wrote in an email that it is still too early to tell how big the budget cut will be.
“We are assessing the situation, of course, but we don’t yet know the size of the challenge and, therefore, the size of the cuts we will have to make,” McGoff wrote. “I am hopeful that we will have more details in the next month or so.”
According to the fall cancellation list, romance languages are potentially facing the biggest impact with a total of seven titles canceled already, and 20 more titles proposed for cancellation. Mathematics, anthropology and reference may be facing larger impacts as well, with over 20 titles proposed for cancellation.
By sending the proposed cancellation list to the faculty, Kendrick and University Libraries hope to receive valuable feedback from the BU community that will enable them to make a more informed final decision.
“We expect that by sending out this list, professors will take precautionary steps toward planning their coursework for students,” Kendrick said.
Kendrick said that once University Libraries knows the magnitude of the cuts, he plans on holding several open meetings with faculty and subject librarians to discuss further steps to be taken.