Library Resolution on Funding

WHEREAS, adequate support for the University Libraries is essential to the health and growth of UNM's research effort in all disciplines;

WHEREAS, the unit cost of materials to support university research, such as journals and other scholarly publications, has increased substantially, far exceeding the rate of inflation, producing a budget crisis;

WHEREAS, University Libraries has had to cancel journals and will have to cancel journals in the near future in order to address the crisis;

WHEREAS, University Libraries has seen an increase in the availability of scholarly publications in electronic format, and faculty demand for these publications has increased while University Libraries has not received an increase in its budget for supporting these changes and demands;

WHEREAS, the book/monograph budget, which is essential to arts and humanities scholars, has declined because of the increase in journal subscription costs in the sciences and social sciences; Whereas, the budget of the University Libraries has fallen far behind the growth of UNM's research endeavors, and will, without action, be unable to support the University's stated priority of significantly increasing research and external funding of research in the future;

WHEREAS, although the University Libraries has benefited from recent bond issues, these funds, while important, are temporary and are not a solution to the UNM Libraries' underfunding;

WHEREAS, other peer and comparable regional universities (e.g., Oregon, Texas-Austin, Virginia, Washington State, Nevada-Las Vegas, New Mexico State, etc.) allocate to their libraries annually a percentage of their total F&A return ranging from one to seven percent;

THEREFORE: BE IT RESOLVED, that the UNM Faculty Senate expects that an allocation of the first two percent of all incoming Main Campus F&A money will be made each fiscal year to University Libraries for the ongoing support of research at UNM. This funding should be viewed as an incremental increase, rather than replacement, to current funding support for University Libraries.