ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


6

Report on the Conference on Retrenchment

in Higher Education: Implications for Libraries

 

Subm itted by 
Lynn B arber 

Acquisitions Librarian 
Skidm ore C ollege

On November 14, amid rumors of budgetary 
freezes, fiscal default and the first snow o f the 
season, the Eastern New York Chapter of 
A C R L  held its first conference and official busi­
ness meeting. T he topic for the day’s discus­
sions was “Retrenchm ent in Higher Education: 
Implications for Libraries,” and nearly seventy- 
five librarians came to the SUNY Albany cam­
pus to compare problems and suggestions for 
solutions.

The meeting commenced with a welcome 
from the new president of SUN Y Albany, E m ­
mett B. Fields. In addressing the group, Presi­
dent Fields emphasized the need for resolving 
the problems of retrenchment without inhibit­
ing the progress of higher education. He stated 
that universities must move forward or risk 
dying. Following Fields, G. Richard Wynn, 
vice-president and treasurer of Cedar Crest Col­
lege, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and M illicent 
D. Abell, associate director of libraries, SUNY 
Buffalo, addressed the issues of retrenchment 
as they have affected their respective institu­
tions.

NELINET
Continued from  p ag e 4

braries” by Frederick G. Kilgour. Mr. Kilgour 
defined the “new librarianship” as that which 
employs new technology to new objectives. He 
went on to define the new technology to be a 
system such as O C L C  and the new objective 
as making more resources available at reduced 
costs. H e predicted that the new librarianship 
will require librarians to view things from an 
economic point of view, using techniques of 
cost analysis, rather than from a budget point 
of view, requiring an expenditure analysis. He 
further predicted that librarians will soon be 
required to reduce costs in overhead and costs 
to users, cost to users meaning that the user 
fails— a good 5 0  percent of the time— to obtain 
the information or material he needs from the 
library. In conclusion, he stated that the em­
ployment of the technology offered by the 
O C L C  system will enable libraries to reduce 
both overhead costs and costs to users because 
of both its economy of scale and its economy 
of time and labor. ■ ■

G. Richard W ynn spoke as an administrator 
making budgetary decisions at a small, private 
college. He cited a number of areas which he 
saw as primary considerations in dealing with 
tight financial situations. Among them were the 
necessity for viewing higher education much 
like any contractor that must attract users of its 
services. W ynn saw this as particularly impor­
tant due to the fa ct that statistical projections 
indicate the number of high school seniors go­
ing on to college is declining. T he pricing fac­
tor, particularly the significant differences in the 
financial bases and requirements of public and 
private institutions must b e dealt with, and par­
ticularly in the context of financial aid to stu­
dents. Productivity as it affects faculty and stu­
dents must also be considered as institutions 
attempt to find ways to deal with diminishing 
working capital. The effects of inflation on li­
braries must be recognized by administrators 
with all its implications to library services and 
purchasing power. In concluding, W ynn em­
phasized the importance of measuring “quality 
distress” as libraries find their budgets being 
cut and the need for developing meaningful 
quantitative measures for library services.

Millicent “Penny” Abell followed Wynn, 
speaking as a librarian who must deal with the 
budgetary decisions of institutional administra­
tors. Abell spoke out strongly on the over­
whelming pressure placed on libraries in meet­
ing their broad objectives with diminishing 
funds. She suggested that librarians must devel­
op a “toughness” to deal with retrenchm ent and 
learn to b e innovative in finding ways to modi­
fy expectations while at the same time fully 
utilizing all their resources. Abell, emphasized 
that libraries should not hope to only “wait out” 
the current economic problems, for the situation 
demands realistic confrontation. “Growth” can­
not be used as an excuse for poor management 
in personnel or service decisions. Abell was 
optimistic, however, in feeling that the reassess­
ment that libraries must face up to may ulti­
mately lead to better definitions of objectives, 
new measures of performance, and a rearrange­
ment of priorities to better reflect available re­
sources and talents. In  summary, Abell chal­
lenged participants to find ways of doing more 
with existing budgets through a process of re- 
evaluation to identify new areas of both inter­
nal and external cooperation. She warned that 
libraries must not squander the resources they 
do have, but rather, they must establish a b al­
ance of operation incorporating courage, hu­
maneness, and strength.



7

Millicent
A bell

G. Richard 
Wynn

A panel discussion during the afternoon ses­
sion aimed at raising issues of individual con­
cern between panelists and participants. 
C. James Schmidt, director of libraries, SUNY 
Albany, served as moderator for the panel comprised

 of the morning’s speakers along with 
Lyn LaBrake, assistant director of libraries, 
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New 
York, and Ellen Rappaport, head of technical 
services, SUNY Cortland. Among the subjects 
discussed were implementing personnel cut­
backs, establishing new and better measure­
ments for service and performance and alterna­
tives for cooperation among libraries and be­
tween libraries and their users. A question-and- 
answer period elicited a number of constructive 
dialogues between panelists and conference 
participants. ■■