Present: T.Leonard (chair), B.Glendenning, C.Faulhaber, B.Hurley,
L.Leighton, M.Rancer, A.Ritch (recorder), N.Robinson, I.Stirling, K.Wayne,
P.Zhou.
Absent: P. Iannuzzi, B. Krell
A G E N D A
1. Announcements.
1a. On 11/21, T. Leonard will attend the regular meeting of the campus
administrative committee planning the northwest corner of the campus. The
future of the Public Health School and its Library continue to be important
issues.
1b. T. Leonard reported on an email received from K. Wittenborg, UL at UVA,
concerning a copyright challenge to their mounting of e-texts on their web
site. Cabinet speculated that the case may concern texts with European
sources, which may be regulated by different copyright law.
1c. P. Zhou announced that two positions in EAL had been approved by admin:
EAL Head of Technical Services; and a Korean collections librarian. [Note:
These positions are now under discussion in library-wide hiring freeze.]
1d. C. Faulhaber announced that a lecture on the California Missions, to be
given in the Bancroft on the evening of 11/8, would be taped for subsequent
broadcast on KQED.
1e. C. Faulhaber has been appointed by B. Burnside to a faculty committee
charged to plan the future of non-textual databases. The group's primary
focus will be the campus management of visual images. T.Leonard will
co-chair this committee.
2. Budget Update. (T. Leonard)
Leonard distributed a short summary of budget alerts issued at the Council
of Deans meeting which he had attended last week. No specific figures are
available yet, and, until we receive them, planning specific policy changes
would be premature. However, budget cuts are likely to be required next
year. They may be substantial, they will be experienced throughout the
campus, but they are likely to have a particularly strong impact on those
units which have no alternative funding sources. The cuts will be
permanent, but Leonard expected that The Library would have considerable
flexibility in determining how they will be implemented. For example, while
we may be given a target which protects the collections budget from
formulaic cuts, we may be able to transfer funds from the collections
budget to cover other areas of need. Leonard reassured Cabinet that his
regular meetings with EVCP Gray and with the Deans' Council will give him
timely access to the progress of decision making.
Other budgetary saving strategies under consideration include: a cap on
student enrollment; adjusting student fees; and postponing development of
the Merced campus. No new VERIP was likely to be announced in the immediate
future. Members pointed out that, compared to the last round of cuts, The
Library was evidently less likely to
be an isolated target, the current alerts were more timely, and the earlier
painful experience has both prepared the Library psychologically and given
us new management tools with which to effect change.
3. Letter from the Cabinet to the campus administration. (T. Leonard)
T. Leonard distributed to Cabinet the draft of a letter addressed to the
Chancellor, concerning the wage structure for Library Assistants and other
classes of library staff. Cabinet, following some editorial revisions,
agreed to sign the letter which echoed sentiments conveyed to the
Chancellor in a similar message last year.