Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries Must Reduce Collection Expenditures by $500,000 in FY 2021 and $500,000 in FY 2022

From VCU Libraries:

To manage anticipated budget cuts, VCU Libraries is planning to cancel subscriptions to some journals and databases effective January 2021. At this stage in the process of selecting titles to retire, the collections department asks for feedback from the VCU academic community.

These cuts to the collection budget are due to the economic effects of COVID-19. Uncertainty about enrollment and government funding has required universitywide budget reductions. For fiscal year 2021 (academic year 2020-21), VCU Libraries sustained a 4.6 percent budget cut that will be managed through reductions in operations, personnel and the collection. The libraries also did not receive unavoidable cost increase funds this year, which helped maintain the library collection amidst soaring scholarly publication costs in past years.

VCU Libraries must reduce collection expenditures by $500,000 in FY 2021 and $500,000 in FY 2022. Most of these reductions will be realized by eliminating a number of journal and database subscriptions. “We will make every effort to retain highly used titles and those that exhibit a high value through a low cost-per-use article download,” said Karen Cary, who heads the Collections Analysis and Investment Department.

Read the Complete Post, Access List of Proposed Titles

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