To characterize the future as anything but grave would be disingenuous:
Prices for library materials will continue to rise, and inflation is not a small thing that can be pooh-poohed: the Library cut $100,000 in journal subscriptions in September 2002, simply because of price inflation. We cannot do this again, and still call ourselves a Library.
The Library must increase spending for books: we cannot continue to spend under 10% of the materials budget on books. We are destroying the monographic collection and cheating our undergraduate population, and in 2004/2005 we simply must bring spending for journals and books back into proportion (75% journals/25% books is recommended). Even if the Library faculty were not painfully aware of this need, we also have a mandate from Faculty Council's Committee on the Library.
This means that, unless the Library budget is significantly stronger in 2004-2005, more journal cancellations are certain, and they can only come in the sciences: This year we spent 90% of our budget for collections on periodicals in various formats; about 75% of this was for the sciences.
Perhaps a more interesting figure is the $373,049 spent on electronic products: of that amount, $317,035 (85%) was spent on science products.
We must keep in mind the very high cost of the science journal packages: the Library would have to cancel dozens of humanities and social science titles to keep just one of the incredibly costly science packages.
It seems that the Brooklyn College Foundation may no longer be able to supply the strong and much-needed support it provided in the past.
All this is exacerbated by a growing Brooklyn College phenomenon, the young faculty member with a limitless appetite for Library resources. With increasing frequency the subject specialists report that new hires have expectations for the Library that are impossible for us to meet. The Library is used as an attractive recruiting tool, but on our budget we cannot offer what many new faculty expect.