At Virginia Tech, Library Funds Restored, Augmented;Long Term Concerns Remain

Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 04/02/2009

• $900,000 cut turns to $300,000 gain
• More library support urged
• Inflation still a long-term concern

Finally, some good budget news to report: after an outpouring of support for the library in the face of a nearly $900,000 library budget cut, administrators at Virginia Tech have not only restored those funds, but increased the library budget. “In addition to not having a budget cut,” reads a letter from Virginia Tech Dean of Libraries Eileen Hitchingham, “the Library will see an increase of $300,000 in funding for 2010.” Hitchingham said the reversal followed “several months of listening by the administration to the VT community via councils, meetings, forums and letters, as faculty and students talked about their needs and how the Library supports them.”

The proposed cuts at Virginia Tech came amid some $30 million in reductions in state funding. Library officials suggested that the university would have to cut nearly $900,000 in subscriptions to cope—and said as many as 700 journals would be considered for elimination. After the library posted an announcement, explained what the proposed cut would mean, and asked for feedback, Virginia Tech director of Collection and Management Paul Metz told reporters he has received some 800 emails. The faculty senate also passed a resolution asking administrators to steer some of the $17 million in federal stimulus money to the library, which administrators will do.

Gratitude—and lingering concerns
Hitchingham noted that the library was gratified by the response of administrators and faculty in seeking to restore funding. “We are especially grateful to the members of the university community,” she added, “for conveying their interest in the library more widely than in their own units, and for their excellent participation in the review of resources.” She noted that the “extensive library review” initiated when the cut was proposed yielded good information and would be useful in evaluating library service going forward.

Still, editorials in the student newspaper noted that the library faces challenges going forward, from serials inflation to its overall state of library funding. “Tech’s library budget currently ranks 100 out of 107 in overall funding among the Association of Research Libraries,” an editorial in the Virginia Tech Collegiate Times reads. “The library is an important symbol of the university’s dedication to learning. Maintaining a library at the bottom end of the national spectrum is truly, truly sorry."

Another Virginia Tech Collegiate Times columnist suggested the university’s lack of support has led to the library being under-utilized by students. “It seems like hardly any students actually go in the library to study, check out books or take advantage of any of the many benefits that accompany such a place,” wrote columnist Tom Minogue. “The library is a huge symbol of university life, and what does it say about our university if the place is decaying?”

Inflation
While grateful for a budget reprieve in the near term, librarians told reporters that serials inflation remained as a chief long-term threat to the library, a point not overlooked by University Provost Mark McNamee. “We all agree that the funding that we have for the library at Virginia Tech...is not at the level that we’d like it to be,” McNamee told reporters. “We keep being pressed to spend more for the same, when in fact the university’s budget, even in the best of times, goes up just a few percent a year. It’s really hard to keep up with that kind of 10 to 15 percent inflation factor.”

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