$ 500,000 Target

As part of Academic Affairs' continuing initiative to maintain purchasing power, the Library annually projects anticipated inflation in the four major categories of collection materials: books, paper periodical subscriptions, paper serial services, and electronic resources. From 1993/94 to 2001/02, the University increased the Library's collections budget each year to reflect inflationary increases in these materials costs.

Beginning in 2002/03, the Library's collections budget has been protected from cuts but has had to remain stable at $ 3,051,298. 2004/05 will be the third consecutive year with no increase in funding to reflect increases in materials costs. The result is a dramatic increase in the proportion of the collections budget devoted to periodicals, serials, and ongoing commitments to electronic resources. In contrast to books, these resources typically have subscription prices that increase annually at a rate of 8% - 12%.

We need to reduce expenditures on subscriptions by the amount their costs have increased due to inflation, including a projection of the anticipated increases for 2004/05 renewals. Without cancellations, serials costs would soon outgrow the entire collections budget, but it is also imperative to rebalance the proportion of the total collections budget spent on books versus serials. Without dramatic changes in the serials marketplace or annual increases in the Library's collections budget, inflationary pressures will require that we review serials commitments annually.

Cancellation decisions made during 2003/04 will take effect in 2004/05. It is too early to project actual average price increases for next year, but even a modest 5% example illustrates that our shortfall reaches more than $500,000 in 2004/05, provided the University can continue to protect the current budget for collections from actual reductions.

Last updated: Tuesday, 30 January, 2007
By libweb@sfsu.edu