ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


July/August 1 9 9 2 / 4 3 9

U niversity of A rk a n sa s a t Little Rock institutes 
student lib ra ry  fee

F
iscal 1991-1992 m arks th e first y ear
the Ottenheimer Library at tire University of
Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) will receive su

ental budget support from a student fee which

 

m
became operating procedure this past July.

In slightly more than 20 years, UALR has
grow n from less than 5,000 undergraduate
students to over 12,000 undergraduate and
graduate students. These graduate programs in­
clude doctoral work which the North Central Ac­
crediting Association sanctioned this year.

That kind o f grow th can have several ef­
fects o n  the university’s library. Budgets do
not increase very rapidly an d  grants cannot
su p p lem en t all n ew  program s. In fact, with
state su p p o rt evolving from a legislature that
only m eets every tw o years, the biennial fi­
nancial preparations always lag behind the de­
mands placed upon the library and its staff.

In the spring o f 1987 the University o f Ar­
kansas Board of Trustees passed a list o f fees
w hich the Little Rock campus h o p ed  to insti­
tute the following fall. This list included ex­
panded fees o f many kinds: for laboratory use,
for music instruction, for the use of physical
education facilities, and for foreign language
instruction, to m ention a few. Also instituted
at approxim ately the same time w as a user
fee charged to library patrons w ho w ere not
connected to the university. These fees w ere
designed to generate general revenues at a
more rapid pace so that the institution could
m eet its expanded programmatic needs by
m eans other than the normal budget process.

In 1989 and 1990 the library director put

 
pp
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

forward to central administration the idea of

a student library fee. This fee w ould be used 
immediately for materials, technology, and ser­

lev­ices that have a direct impact u pon student 
needs. The fee was passed by the University 
of Arkansas System Board in the spring of 
1991; it requires that $1.50 per semester credit 
hour be collected, then transferred to the li­
brary for purchases to benefit students. Rev­
enues will be adjusted each year as enroll­
ment grows, and the $1.50 can be increased.

A pproxim ately $350,000 w as generated 
during 1991-92, and is expected to grow  as 
enrollment surges; UALR is projected to reach 
18,000-20,000 students by the year 2000. The 
library administration has publicly stated that 
m onies raised will be used to buy m ono­
graphs, videocassettes, reference materials, 
music, com pact discs, and equipment.

Students’ reactions to the required library 
fee are very positive. Gayla Marie Tyler, a 
senior w ho plans to attend graduate school 
at UALR, said, “I can understand and appre­
ciate the library fee. Our m oney will benefit 
all students, especially those like myself w ho 
intend to go o n  to higher studies.” Robert 
Austin and Tracy Ahring both com mented that 
now  the library can expand its b ook collec­
tion w ith recent publications that will update 
the holdings. Carson Baxter, another student, 
said, “This fee will be p u t to better use than 
some others; w e can b e at tip-top standard 
n o w .”— D on Sweet, library director; K athy 
Sanders, assistant director, p u b lic services; 
a n d  Bill Traylor, assistant director, technical 
services, University o f Arkansas, Little Rock (Bitnet: 
BATAYLOR@UALR.Edu)  ■

W eek (NLW) celebration. The University of and faculty had the chance to match faculty 
members with their favorite books.

 
A u b u rn  d edic a te s  lib r a r y  a d d itio n

 O n N ovember 8, 1991, the 207,000-square-foot 
 addition to the Auburn University Libraries was 
 dedicated. The addition doubled the library’s 
 size increasing the building’s capacity to 2.5 
 million volumes with seating for 2,500. State 

and university bonds as well as private sup­

South Alabama Biomedical Library held draw­
ings during this year’s NLW. Prizes aw arded
included copicards for $5.00 w orth o f photo­
copying and free com puter searches (value up
to $20.00). The N ortheastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) celebrated
NLW w ith  “T h e  S e c o n d  A n n u a l G re a t
NEOUCOM Read A loud” an d  “T he Faculty
Match G am e” in w hich NEOUCOM students

mailto:BATAYLOR@UALR.Edu