Moderating the Blog

I have changed this blog to moderate comments before they are posted. I did not do this lightly or without careful consideration, and I do it with some reluctance.

The purpose of this blog is to solicit a broad base of input to a process which is affecting our entire organization and the campus we serve. It is not to provide a forum for anonymous personal attacks. I will withhold comments that are demeaning or intimidating to specific individuals. All other comments and questions will be posted promptly. (NOTE: The comments that have been posted to date would all have been posted under this standard.)

I will continue to allow anonymous posts so that people who wish to express relevant opinions will have a place to speak, even if they do not they wish to be identified. I believe it is important to offer that option. I do not want the fact that the blog is moderated to have a chilling affect on its legitimate use to express opinions, so please continue to submit your questions, comments or suggestions.

2009-2010 Budget Reduction Proposal for the George A. Smathers Libraries, Including the Health Science Center Libraries

On April 1st, the Libraries submitted our 2009-2010 budget reduction proposal to the Provost. The Libraries were asked to identify budget cuts of $387,799 from the Health Science Center Libraries and $2.278 million from the Smathers Libraries, for a total of $2,665,799.

The 10% budget reduction proposal was submitted on a spreadsheet and accompanied by a narrative. Both documents are posted here on the blog as PDF files.

The narrative includes the University Library Committee resolution in support of the Libraries' budgets and identifies strategic decisions reflected in the proposed personnel reductions. It also documents that the Libraries will have lost $1.7 million in purchasing power in the three years from 2007-2008 through 2009-2010, independent of any reduction in our materials budget, due to price increases in the print and electronic information resources that we acquire for our users.

Second Town Hall Meeting Scheduled

A Town Hall Meeting on the Smathers Libraries 2009-2010 Budget has been scheduled for Monday, March 23rd. It will be held from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Smathers (Library East) Room 1A. Although this meeting is specific to the Smathers Libraries budget, not the Health Science Center Libraries, the Legal Information Center or FCLA budgets, it is an open meeting and individuals from those organizations are welcome to come.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the revisions to the proposed budget for the Smathers Libraries in advance of its submission to the Provost on April 1st. This will be an opportunity to receive a briefing on the updated proposal as well as to ask questions and provide comments.

DRAFT Budget Reduction Proposal

The PowerPoint presentation from the Town Hall Meeting held on Friday, February 27th, is available here on the blog and at: http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/pio/budget/Budget_Presentation02272009.pdf.

You can provide your comments and questions through the blog, or you can speak to your department chair (or equivalent), the directors and associate deans, or to me. We will try to capture the verbal questions and comments and incorporate them into the blog so everyone will have the information.

You can also help by providing suggestions for the impact statements that will accompany every proposed cut. These statements need to address how the changes we are proposing will affect our users.

I would like to have all the questions and comments by March 17th, so we can prepare an updated proposal to share with you in another Town Hall Meeting on or about March 19th. That will give us time to make final revisions to the budget proposal that will be submitted to the Provost on April 1st.

Thank you all for the sincere efforts that you are making to help us identify, describe and prioritize the proposed cuts. I know this is very difficult for everyone.

Town Hall Meeting Rescheduled

The Town Hall Meeting on the Smathers Libraries 2009-2010 Budget has been rescheduled for Friday, February 27^th. It will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. in Smathers (Library East) Room 1A. Although this meeting is specific to the Smathers Libraries budget, not the Health Science Center Libraries, the Legal Information Center or FCLA budgets, it is an open meeting and individuals from those organizations are welcome to come.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the proposed budget for the Smathers Libraries in advance of its submission to the Provost on April 1st. This will be an opportunity to receive a briefing on the proposal as well as to ask questions and provide initial comments.

Please remember that this is only a budget proposal. Later this spring, we will receive a response from the Provost and more specific budget guidance from the President. We will not know our actual budget until the Board of Trustees approves the University Budget in early June.

President Machen has set up a site for budget information, including questions & answers (Q&A) at: http://budget.president.ufl.edu/. This site will be updated throughout the budget process, so I encourage you to look at it periodically.

The Faculty Senate has a budget blog at: http://blog.senate.ufl.edu/. This is another excellent source of information and opinion about the University-wide budget process.

This blog is a means to share comments and questions specific to the Smathers Libraries budget and budget process. I encourage you to participate.

University Libraries Committee Resolution

At its January meeting, the University Libraries Committee passed the following resolution in support of the UF Libraries' budgets:

"The University Library Committee strongly supports the retention of the budgets of the Smathers, Law and Health Science Center libraries at no less than the July 1, 2008 level. We are making this recommendation because the libraries are integral to the research and educational mission of the University, as stated in the Strategic Work Plan. A cut in library budgets would have a detrimental effect on every educational and research program at the University."

Budget Planning Information Resources

Other information resources with useful information about the University-wide budget planning are available.

The President has a website: Budget News: The Latest on the Budget at UF (http://budget.president.ufl.edu/).

The Faculty Senate has a budget blog (http://blog.senate.ufl.edu/).

The Libraries' blog will not be duplicating information from these sites, so you may wish to consult them periodically for up-to-date information that is beyond the scope of this blog.