A robust scholarly community puts a lot of demands on its library,
and Brown's faculty and students are no exception. As faculty engage
in groundbreaking research, graduate students explore new roads of
inquiry and undergraduate students build their foundation of academic
knowledge, they all turn to the research of fellow scholars -- and
to the Library. The Brown University Library connects our patrons
with the research they need, through its current holdings and a variety
of borrowing arrangements with other libraries.
But getting the right research materials into the hands of Brown scholars
is a formidable task, especially in light of rapidly climbing costs
for many items. In fiscal year 2002, the Brown University Library
purchased over 39,000 volumes, and increased its serials holdings
by over 3,500. The Library spent nearly $6.6 million to purchase new
research materials in fiscal year 2002.
While this is an impressive figure, the Brown University Library is
struggling to keep pace with annual commitments to existing subscriptions
to serials, indexes, abstracts, electronic databases and book series.
For example, just keeping the status quo of serial subscriptions for
next year will require an expected increase of eight percent for existing
serial subscriptions. The wish list for new book purchases is much
larger than the budget will allow. Scientific journals are one resource
that is taking an ever-bigger bite out of the Library budget -- as
costs have risen over 150 percent over the last decade. The annual
subscription to Nuclear Physics, for example, costs over $23,000
-- which approaches the annual tuition costs for an undergraduate student
at Brown.
Databases of scholarly resources are another vital tool for researchers
that adds pressure to the Library budget. Databases not only allow
scholars to do in-depth research in particular subject areas and find
more obscure information contained in archives, journals, abstracts,
manuscripts and other resources, but also often represent the best
sources of information available. These electronic resources are selected
by Library subject specialists; librarians who frequently have degrees
in a scholarly field in addition to their Master's degrees in Library
and Information Science. The Brown University Library subscribes to
over 200 databases. While some databases are relatively inexpensive
or even free, the cost of some databases is staggering. A one-year
subscription to the Web of Science database cost $107,829 this
year.
Another significant cost for the Library is in the area of digital
materials such as e-books and electronic sound and image files. Like
traditional printed material, items in digital format require maintenance
-- primarily of the servers that house them, and also the computers
that patrons use to access the data. Also, as information technology
evolves, many digital items may need to be transferred to more up-to-date
formats -- just as some reel-to-reel sound recordings are now transferred
to compact discs in response to changing audio technology.
So what is happening with the beloved books that many Brown alumni
used as their primary research resources? Books continue to be an
important format for research -- particularly in the humanities. Although
the prices of most scholarly books are not increasing at the rate
of scientific serials, costs have been rising each year. The budget
pressure is evident in many areas. For example, from Library Journal's
recent list of outstanding reference materials for 2002, the Brown
University Library was only able to pur-chase 15 percent of these
highly valuable resources. And the prices of the reference books it
did purchase were very high. For example, the Library spent $1,295
on Grizimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia and purchased Biotechnology:
A Multi-Volume Comprehensive Treatise for $2,775.
The net result of these increased costs is that the Library is struggling
to support the needs of Brown's scholarly commu-nity. During most
recent years, the University has not been able to supplement the Library
budget sufficiently to keep abreast of rising costs. While the Library
has a dedicated staff who have become very adept at stretching each
dollar to maximize the scholarly value of its purchases, some areas
of the Library's holdings are not nearly as strong as they should
be.
Looking to the future, the Library is working with the University
to ensure that necessary research materials are made available to
Brown scholars. Friends of the Library members can play a vital role
in this effort. Friends' con-tributions are used both to support the
Library fiscally, and also to sponsor events and publications that
help raise awareness about Library services and needs.
For more information about Friends of the Library membership to, please
contact Christy Law Blanchard via e-mail at 
Christy_Law_Blanchard@brown.edu
or call (401) 863-1518. There is also a membership
form. Thank you, in advance, for your support!
