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Library Collections Budget Reduction: Home

This guide provides information about the University Libraries strategies for absorbing the budget reduction and rebalancing our collections in order to address the financial contraints affecting our university.

Overview

The University Libraries has been impacted by the budget shortfalls affecting all university departments. Our library collections budget was reduced by $1.4 million (20%). We have analyzed our subscriptions for usage, overlapping coverage and programmatic impacts before selecting resources for cancelation to absorb this significant reduction.

This guide provides you with information about our strategies for absorbing the budget reduction and rebalancing our collections. We have also provided lists of electronic and print cancelations for your reference in the tabs within this guide.

Our collections remain robust and ready to support your research and all WMU students. We encourage you to use Library Search to access articles, print and electronic books, streaming video, audio files and more. You can utilize the “expand beyond my library” feature to discover resources beyond our collection and request them through our interlibrary loan service. This service connects you with libraries in the U.S. and around the world. Simply place a request online to have resources delivered electronically or to your home.

We encourage you to contact your subject librarian with questions and assistance in identifying alternative resources for your research and teaching. 

Strategies

We established the following strategies to guide our collections analysis and cancelations.

  1. Preserve access to full-text content over index and abstract databases
  2. Prioritize electronic resources over print to help students and faculty access information anywhere, anytime
  3. Suspend all one-time discretionary spending on monograph and streaming video titles except for specific class-related requests

We reviewed usage and cost per use for databases and electronic journals. We also consulted with our subject librarians to ensure our collections remained robust in each programmatic area.

Due to varying renewal cycles and multi-year agreements, cancelations began in June and will continue through the 2021-22 fiscal year. To meet the university’s timeline, we had to act swiftly to reduce our budget. However, we are committed to a transparent and iterative approach to our collection. We will continue to analyze and make changes to our collection to meet the current and emerging needs of the WMU community.

Thank you for your support and understanding during these challenging times.