Library Committee Update

The library committee met today and largely discussed budgets and resource sharing services, such as inter-library loan (ILL) and document delivery services like Library Express.

The overall library budget has not been cut as much as we thought it might. It is only 1% rather than the anticipated 5% or more. While this is good, projects such as the preservation facility will not be funded in this year's state budget. This means that libraries will continue to be short on space for storage and student use. Some libraries with separate budgets, such as Ebling, are still looking at large cuts and the library system is looking at ways to consolidate services with them.

ILL has seen a massive increase in use. There has been an overall 141% increase in demand since 2001. The trend is increasingly towards articles, rather than returnable items such as books. Grad students and faculty have the highest proportional use, but undergrads dominate through sheer numbers. Turnaround time for Library Express services has decreased by about half as software and staffing have improved performance. There is some discussion about possibly capping the amount materials that can be requested because of expense. Discussion on this topic has been tabled until the next meeting.

What I would like to know from other students is how they feel about the library system not promoting this service. Because of the limited budget there is concern that promoting it would swamp the service. While this may be true, my concern is that there is a divide between those who know about the service and those who don't. I think this might be an issue because Library Express is an incredible service that many student may be missing out on simply because they don't know it exists. What do you think? Find out more about Library Express here if you haven't heard about it.

Other items brought up:

• College Library is hosting an event with American Indian leaders on campus tonight (5:30) to compliment the PBS "We Shall Remain" series, the first episode aired last night.
• Past American Library Association President Loriene Roy will present on indigenous libraries in the School of Library and Information Studies Commons (4th floor Helen C. White) on Wednesday, April 22, at 4:30PM.
• MERIT library (formerly CIMC) is letting people have "Read" posters made with their own pictures on them in celebration of National Library Week.
  

Library and Childcare Committees

University Libraries Committee:
The main issue highlighted at this month's University Library Committee meeting was anticipated budget cuts coming down the road. There is still some question about what form these will take. Nonetheless, the ULC is being proactive in looking at where the libraries can increase efficiency while maintaining services and what could be eliminated if need be. The anticipated cuts are somewhere in the range of 5-10% of the overall budget. What the numbers are will not be entirely clear until everything is worked out with the revised State budget and what impact the federal stimulus package will have. What the directors of the General Library System have committed themselves to, however, is to maintain innovation to meet the university's information needs. While the library system will have to slim down in some places, the overall attitude remains positive and hopeful for the future.

University Child Care Committee:
At the University Child Care Committee meeting we discussed broad array of issues, but perhaps the most prominent one was the problem of a lack of available child care on campus. There are many great programs at this university, such as the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program which makes it possible for parent students to better focus on their studies, but clearly more could be done. One of the concerns I raised with the committee was the difficulty of using the current after care program for students. After care is a service for parents who need to take evening classes, and it is something that may need more attention as graduate programs increasingly migrate their classes to evening timeslots to accommodate students who work full time. The facilities used for the after care program are excellent (the Little Chicks Daycare on Whitney Way and University), but they are also inconveniently located far from much of the campus. We discussed the possibility of finding another daycare east of campus that could provide services for students who live in that part of town. Ultimately, however, many agreed that there is a glaring need for modern daycare facilities located near the heart of the campus. When new buildings are drawn-up for campus the feasibility of having a daycare located in them is supposed to be explored. It seems, however, that increased pressure on decision-makers would help move this forward, since there are no solid prospects at this point. If UW-Madison wishes to continue to attract a diverse array of students they will have to invest more in child care infrastructure.

Perhaps this is an issue the Campus Planning Committee could be willing to take up?