Staff Editorial: The heart of the university

"My library was dukedom large enough." ~Shakespeare's The Tempest

For many undergraduate students, the university's libraries serve as little more than quiet places to study. General research is increasingly done electronically and remotely, and reading for pleasure or diversion is fading as a habit.

But behind the scenes, the function of the library system is invaluable to the fundamental purpose of the university. It is the libraries' job to make sense of the morass of information generated daily from the thousands of universities around the world. Researchers and teachers depend on this service to ensure that their own work is not redundant and that it is founded on valid and widely accepted assumptions. This is a daunting task, but our university could not survive without it. It is also, by its nature, easy to take for granted. It would not be an exaggeration to say the overall success of a university hinges in part on the vitality of its library system.

Our libraries are feeling the pinch. It was already clear that our system is behind those of other schools in terms of journal subscriptions and collection size. This is a handicap that can be compensated for with a strong online circulation, but it is nevertheless a handicap. Library employee Timothy Hackman said at a senate meeting discussing the strategic plan that a dozen staff members have left the libraries this year. Now, the dean of libraries is leaving to pursue other opportunities. In the future, it would not be surprising if potential faculty recruits were to choose other universities for their superior library services.

The problem, like so many others at the university, can be reduced to one of funding. The university simply cannot find enough money to meet the demands of the library system. The same could likely be said of any department, save those of those of business and engineering.

The disturbing aspect of this is that the continued vitality of the libraries does not seem to be as high a priority as it ought to be. There is one section, constituting about one page, in the strategic plan devoted to goals for the "quality of the information environment." The ideas there are sound, and many of them are concerned with adapting to the digital revolution in library science. But there is no sense conveyed that libraries are an expression of the university's productivity, especially at a research institution like ours.

The pinch that the libraries are feeling now is a consequence of this lack of vision. The provost asks from where can funds be diverted to help the libraries out? The answer is that there are few facets of the university as crucial as the library system, and so less essential departments and expenditures ought to be examined if that is what it takes to ensure the health of the libraries. If our claim to be a world-class research institution is to be taken seriously, the libraries must be an absolute priority.

POLICY: The signed letters, columns and cartoon represent only the opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Diamondback's editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor in chief.