This is an important step in the right direction, and the Library Committee warmly welcomed the chancellor's interest and initiative. But these allocations do not augment the Library's permanent collections budget, nor do they allow for inflation. Clearly, a more unified commitment to funding the Library is needed. Pressure to leap headlong onto the bandwagon of the Digital Age also complicates matters. We recognize that modern information technology is important, more so to some academic departments than to others, but we do not believe in downgrading the quality of our printed collections.
Damage now is likely to be irreparable.
Monographs not purchased and subscriptions dropped are seldom, if ever, restored. The result is reduced access to the best of contemporary scholarship, a reduction that affects educational and research opportunities for students and faculty now and in the future. The quality of a library rests not only on the quality of its collections but on the expertise of its staff. A staff reduced both in numbers and in its average level of experience is less able to assist undergraduate and graduate students and faculty engaged in research and teaching. Positions for professional librarians and bibliographers must be filled by fully qualified individuals in order to provide essential services, to maintain the quality of the printed collections and to support the development of electronic resources.