40% of British university libraries plan cuts

["Colin Steele" <Colin.Steele@anu.edu.au>]

Article in UK THES today links into ARL/BIG DEAL commentary loop 
on the list
colin

Expect few new titles in library as sterling's fall pounds 
acquisitions
21 May 2009

By Zoe Corbyn

40% of university libraries plan cuts to book and journal 
purchases next year. Zoe Corbyn reports

Academics should brace themselves for 'severe' cuts in access to 
new books and journals in the next academic year as higher costs 
caused by the fall in the value of the pound put libraries under 
pressure.

Times Higher Education reported in January that the drop in the 
pound's value was having a 'crippling effect' on the budgets of 
UK university libraries, which faced huge increases in 
subscriptions costs for research journals from the US and 
elsewhere in Europe.

Now a new survey of 38 university libraries conducted by the 
Research Information Network (RIN) reveals just how serious the 
situation is.

Preliminary findings presented to Times Higher Education show 
that although the current academic year has been 'financially 
challenging', it is in 2009-10 that the pinch will really be 
felt.

The survey shows that nearly 40 per cent of libraries plan cuts 
to books and serial purchases from next year. One in five plans 
to cancel one or more so-called big deals with publishing houses 
to access bundles of journals online. A single bundle can contain 
hundreds of titles.

Michael Jubb, director of the RIN, said that many university 
libraries had already overspent in the current academic year and 
some had been forced to cut budgets. But it was 2009-10 that 
would be the 'much bigger problem'.

'We are facing the prospect of significant reductions in access 
to a wide range of journals and severe cuts in the availability 
of books ... which could do severe damage to research and 
teaching in UK universities,' he said.

'In some libraries, the extra costs for journal licences that 
they will face next year, simply as a result of the fall in the 
value of the pound, exceed the total of their current budgets for 
buying books.'

Toby Bainton, secretary of the Society of College, National and 
University Libraries (Sconul), said the swift slide in the value 
of sterling since the start of the current academic year had 
'caused havoc' for libraries.

He said many had received invoices in January for orders placed 
last September that punched six-figure holes in budgets. 'I have 
heard stories of ?500,000 rises at some large research-intensive 
universities,' he said.

Although many vice-chancellors had listened to special pleas and 
authorised contingency funds, he said these covered only the 
current academic year. '2009-10 is going to be the really bad 
time ... It is a problem for the entire institution because the 
only thing to cut is the big deals of journals, and that means 
hundreds of titles at once, which will affect researchers all 
over the university.'

zoe.corbyn@tsleducation.com.

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Colin Steele
Emeritus Fellow
The Australian National University