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| Library subscriptions, book numbers slashed |
Andy Ferguson
Academic Affairs Beat |
 Belk
Library canceled 730 journal subscriptions and decreased book purchases
by 6,000 copies from the amount purchased two years ago due to the
2001-2002 budget cuts.
After considering faculty suggestions, the library
staff finalized a list of seldom-used journals and canceled the subscriptions,
said John P. Abbott, coordinator of Collection Development at Belk
Library. “It’s not a good thing, but we hope
we canceled journals that are least used,” said Abbott.
The budget cuts have not affected electronic database
subscriptions, a service that costs the library about $26,000. Most
of the canceled journals are still available through these databases,
said Abbott.
Belk Library is managing the situation in a way
that will have the least effect on student learning, said Abbott
Dr. James R. Goff Jr., associate professor in the
Department of History, said the library did not cancel any of the
journals he uses in his senior and graduate classes.
“I haven’t seen any [cancellations] that
will personally affect me. The bigger problem is going to be for graduate
students,” said Goff.
Goff said he uses interlibrary loans to access
journals unavailable through Belk Library, but graduate students may
be more reluctant to do so.
Reducing book purchases affected the library’s
maintenance of a broad selection of learning materials.
“We had less money, so we had to be more selective,”
said Abbott.
Academic departments assist the library staff in
selecting books to purchase by examining book reviews and catalogs
from publishers and vendors.
Books that match Appalachian State University’s
curriculum and research interests are selected for purchase, said
Abbott.
The current library budget is $1.8 million, almost
$400,000 less than the 1999-2000 budget, he said.
Libraries at Western Carolina University and the
University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA) experienced some
of the same problems this year.
Western Carolina’s Hunter Library spent a
two-year period reducing the amount of money spent on periodicals
by 20 percent, said University Librarian Bil Stahl.
Jim Kuhlman, the university librarian at UNC Asheville,
said he suspected all academic libraries in the country were experiencing
similar budget problems.
Kuhlman said UNCA’s Ramsey Library canceled
journal subscriptions as well. |
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