RE-FUND The UC Berkeley LIBRARIES

WHAT'S GOING ON RECENTLY?

“As the Commission on the Future of the Library stated, 'There is simply no great University without a great Library.' We believe that the plan we have announced today will assure that our Library remains the jewel that it has always been, for our students and faculty and for the broader public." - George W. Breslauer, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost (January 27, 2014)

THE PROBLEM

The UC Berkeley Library currently faces an estimated $5 million structural budget deficit. The Library has already begun limiting hours and services for several campus libraries because it lacks the staff and resources to keep them open. Now the Library and UC Berkeley administration are poised to implement the closing and consolidation of library spaces in an attempt to address the budget gap. Next will be another review of the Library collections budget, which is mid-way through the process of being reduced by $1.7 million over the next two years. This is on top of previous cuts to collections carried out in the last five years. The deep cuts to the Library negatively affect students, faculty, library workers, and the public.


According to the Berkeley Faculty Association (BFA), the Library received $44.5 million this year from campus, which is $2 million less than its overall budget in 2014 and $13.5 million less than its budget in 2008, resulting in a cumulative shortfall of $20.7 million from central campus. If you factor in 3.7% annual cost increases from salaries and subscriptions, the cumulative shortfall since 2014 now amounts in real terms to $88 million!


Library advocates have demanded that funding should be permanently restored to build and extend the strengths of our library employees, services, spaces, and collections to truly serve the UC Berkeley community now and into the future. Communities across UCB are pushing back against the austerity measures being suggested by the University and the Library.