The quality of the collections of the Brooklyn College Library have a direct connection to academic quality as perceived and experienced by the faculty and students. Although Brooklyn College is one of the dozen largest academic libraries in New York State, for years faculty have told us of their need to go to other universities' libraries to conduct their research. Thanks to the advent of electronic resources, this need to travel has been greatly reduced.
The Library's budget has remained relatively constant for the past few years. This means we should have lost ground, because inflation in the cost of library materials always exceeds the general national inflation rate. However, by shopping carefully for the best consortial prices for electronic information and canceling print wherever possible, we have managed to hold the line.