A. Since 2008, the Libraries have absorbed cuts of more than $5.5 million (or approximately 16% of our operations and collections budget). In addition to these cuts, the Libraries were assessed approximately $1 million for employee furloughs last year. For 2011-12, the Libraries received a budget cut of $2 million. The campus allocated a smaller cut to the Libraries than we’d been told to plan for in order to avoid our having to cut electronic resources (electronic books, journals, and databases) and the staff needed to make them available. This reflects the continuing and growing demand for access to electronic and digital materials from faculty and students. While we are grateful to have received a smaller cut than expected, given the State of California's continuing fiscal crisis, the campus (and the Libraries) is expecting an additional mid-year cut.
A. Over the last year, we have closed three library facilities: the Medical Center Library (April 2011); the Center for Library & Instructional Computing Services (CLICS) (June 2011); and the International Relations & Pacific Studies (IR/PS) Library (July 2011). In addition to these closures, we have: shortened library hours; consolidated service points; slowed down digitization efforts; decreased instruction and classroom support; reduced our spending for informational and scholarly resources; implemented cuts in supplies and equipment; reduced binding support; and dramatically cut budgets for facilities maintenance and renovation. In addition, we were forced to eliminate the campus paging system, Roger Request.
The Libraries have also eliminated more than 50 positions.
A. Cuts in library funding have unavoidably led to some reductions in service and staffing. While faculty, students, and other patrons will find the same quality of service, they also may experience longer waiting periods and lines as a result of library closures and staffing reductions. In spite of this, library staff remain committed to doing all they can to provide users with the assistance they need.
A. Our hope is that through staff reassignments, retraining, and attrition, layoffs of permanent staff can be avoided.
A. We do anticipate having to consolidate the collections of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Science & Engineering libraries in the 2012/13 academic year. Over the next year, the Scripps Library will remain open on a reduced schedule until the summer. At that time, our plan is to consolidate the Scripps collections with those in Geisel. The Scripps Archives, which house a wide range of historic materials on Scripps and UC San Diego, will remain in the Scripps Library building, where they will continue to be accessible by appointment. Our plan also includes consolidating the Science & Engineering collections into the rest of the collections in the Geisel Library building. We expect it will take us at least a year to transition all of these library services and collections to the two remaining large library buildings.
A. After these closures, we will still have almost 350,000 square feet of space in the Geisel and Biomedical Library buildings, Since the closure of CLICS in June 2011, we have been working to add new study and computing spaces—both individual and group—in Geisel to make up for some of the seating that was lost. We are currently planning to add 126 new workstations and more than 260 individual, group, and collaborative study seats over the next year to Geisel. We are committed to doing all we possibly can to enhance existing spaces and create new study and work spaces to accommodate students in our consolidated library facilities.
A. The UCSD Libraries have been forced to reduce our state-funded collections budget by almost $2 million (or more than 20%) since 2008-09. The campus allocated a smaller cut to the Libraries than was expected for 2011-12 in order to avoid our having to cut electronic resources (electronic books, journals, and databases) and the staff needed to make them available.
Previous cuts have required us to implement a wide range of cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of print journal subscriptions duplicated at other UC campuses and an overall decrease in the purchasing of new books and journals. While these cuts have meant that UCSD faculty and students have access to a reduced number of materials here on campus, the Libraries are committed to providing just-in-time acquisition and delivery of materials, with a preference for digital delivery.
A. The collections from the IR/PS Library have been transferred to the 8th floor of Geisel Library where they are now available for use. Collections from the Medical Center Library have been consolidated into the Biomedical Library. Some materials from both these collections are housed in the Libraries’ offsite annex. The CLICS facility did not house permanent library collections.
A. The Libraries have embarked on a three-year process of reviewing all our physical collections, with the goal of retaining on campus those materials that are most used and that support current instruction and research. Over time, the campus collections are being consolidated in the Geisel and Biomedical Library buildings. Lesser-used materials will be stored in our offsite annex or added to the UC Regional Storage Facilities. Only those materials that have not been used over the last ten years and are available in digital format, or are available at other UC libraries or storage facilities, are being considered for withdrawal from our collections. Unique and rare materials, such as those housed in the Mandeville Special Collections Library, are not included in this consolidation process.
To accommodate additional materials, the Libraries will be installing compact shelving in Geisel Library over the 2011-12 academic year. Until this project is completed, we will be temporarily relocating some materials from Geisel to the offsite annex. These materials include Social Sciences and Humanities oversized materials and pre-1990 bound journals from the Science & Engineering collections. While many of these journals are available online, if they are not, we will scan articles from those journals and deliver them to the requester’s desktop. If a physical volume is needed, users will be able to request it for prompt delivery back to a campus library.
During this time, we will be monitoring requests to determine use patterns. Frequently used materials will be returned to Geisel Library after completion of the consolidated shelving project.