Hello everyone,

This week I’d like to share some information on the renovation of the Telepresence Room.  All four campuses are getting these rooms updated for improved technology, and work on ours will start July 17, when contractors will start tearing out the current room and replacing the technology.  Their plan is to have it all done by July 24.  Work will also start soon to repair an old steam pipe that stretches through rooms 202 and 114, down into the auditorium.

Also starting is the construction on the U.S. Census Research Data Center to be housed in Room 205.  It will have its own federal staff person, and we will need to reach out to him or her to make that person welcome in Ellis. That is also supposed to be complete by July 30.

Special Collections Librarian candidates are coming July 13 and 27, and I know many of you will try to make their open forums those mornings at 11 am in 4F51A.

Sheena’s replacement Noah Hartsfield started this week, and he has a service dog named Tara. They’re a happy addition to room 104.

HSL’s newest librarian, Taira Sullivan, starts Monday, so we have another new person to welcome!

The Student Fee Working Group is still meeting most Tuesday afternoons, and Matt will give us all a full report at the All Staff meeting on August 13. 

If you have ideas about what you’d like to have beyond a budget report, division reports and student fee report, followed by general Q and A, at the All Staff meeting, please send them to me soon.

Ann

Hello everyone,

Starting July 1, the reporting structure   in the Libraries will change to re-assign my current duties when I become Acting Director. Digital Services will report to Mike Holland. Access Services will report to Jeannette. Corrie will be Acting Head of Technical Services.  Abbie Brown for Consortial Services, Brian Cain for Depositories and all Jim's current direct reports except Matt and Trenton will report to me. Matt will report to Jim and Trenton to Mike.

Thanks for your help in making  a smooth transition.

Ann

Hello everyone,

Some of you know that several LMT members and I had our annual budget meeting with the Provost this past Monday.  No surprises; we knew we had to take a 5% cut to our total budget, and that is what we showed in the spreadsheets we presented to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Finance. We included all the cuts we’ve discussed before, to library hours and to our collections budget.

Most of you know that MERLIN has been looking at its relationship with MOBIUS for the last five years or so. In this time of extreme budget scrutiny, the MERLIN directors have decided to seek a more affordable way to participate in MOBIUS, perhaps through a direct contract with Innovative. We remain committed to state-wide borrowing and are working with the MOBIUS Board to find a solution that brings Merlin system cost closer to the market rate for our ILS services. More information should be available in a few months.

Today in a few minutes I will attend the Mizzou Remembers event to honor the memory of students who died this year.  Special thanks to Sean Witzman, Corrie Hutchinson and Cindy Cotner for helping to provide books in memory of the deceased.

Tonight is the annual Library Society dinner at which we honor donors to the libraries. Thanks to all of you who help with that, too.

Ann

Tuesday, October 25^th, 2011
Strategic Planning and Resource Advisory Council (SPRAC)
3-5 pm, RJI

Friday, October 28, 2011
MOBIUS Board Meeting
10:00 am – 3:00 pm, MOBIUS offices, Columbia MO

First, I would like to make an announcement about Mizzou Advantage. Kate Anderson has been selected to serve as the Mizzou Advantage Library Liaison. She will spend 50% of her time on Mizzou Advantage and the other 50% on her former duties at the Health Sciences Library (HSL) and the Veterinary Medicine Library. Her official start date is February 1. Due to Kate’s appointment and other changes at HSL that are listed below, I will be requesting an additional librarian position for HSL.

With the loss of the Assistant Director of User Services position, several organization and staffing changes had to be made. Deb Ward has been named Interim Associate Director of the Research and Information Services Division. This new division is made up of the Ellis Library Reference Department plus the remaining branch libraries, which are Engineering, Geology, Journalism and Math. Deb is still Director of the Health Sciences Libraries, which includes HSL and Vet Med.

To enable Deb to spend time in Ellis Library involved with her new duties, two more changes have been made. Diane Johnson and Rich Rexroat also have new titles and new responsibilities. Diane is now Assistant Director of Health Sciences Library Information Services and Resources. Diane will handle more external communications with users regarding information resources and services, in addition to managing the information services department. Rich is now also an Assistant Director, and is in charge of Circulation, with Terri Hall reporting to him. Rich is also assisting with HSL facility management and administration, in addition to managing HSL cataloging and collection management.

Ann Riley will serve as the Associate Director of the Access, Collections and Technical Services Division. This new division is the former Technical Services Division plus Access Services. Ann also chairs the Collections Services Committee, and Hunter Kevil now reports to her while also retaining his role in Reference.

Mike Holland’s title is Assistant Director of the Special Collections and Rare Books Division. There are no changes to the former organizational structure that affect this division.

In addition, Duane Bittle, Lead Delivery Attendant, will go back to reporting to Ellen Blair. Al Messner has been temporarily assisting Duane since Jeremy Clark’s resignation. We have received permission to fill a part-time (50%) position to replace Jeremy.

I want to thank everyone who is adjusting their duties to make sure that the MU Libraries continues to serve patrons effectively and efficiently. Please contact me or your division head if you have any questions.

I hope to see all of you on May 19 for a Mizzou Advantage strategy meeting.

Wrap-Up of the For All We Call Mizzou Campaign
Now that the For All We Call Mizzou campaign has ended, with over one billion dollars in gifts and pledges for MU, I would like to give you an overview of the success of the campaign for the Libraries. As of December 31, 2008, the MU Libraries raised $8,204,439, which is 102.58% of our $8 million campaign goal. The Library Society, consisting of individuals who have contributed $1,000 or more, currently boasts 98 members. The Honor with Books program has raised over $28,000 since it began in FY05, and the Adopt-A-Book program inaugurated in FY07, has raised over $20,000, enabling the conservation of over 100 books from our rare and special collections. Before the campaign started, we had seventeen endowed funds totaling $2.3 million for library collections. Today we have forty-one such funds totaling $4.5 million.
During the campaign, the MU Libraries hosted five Library Society Dinners to honor our major donors and supporters. The following distinguished speakers presented keynote talks at the dinners:
o Diane Glancy, author and Mizzou alumna (2004),
o Alice Prochaska, Yale University Librarian (2005),
o John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress (2006),
o Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation (2008), and
o Robert M. O’Neil, director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression (2009).

The MU Libraries also hosted events for alumni and friends in New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Washington, D.C.. Ron Powers, author, Pulitzer Prize winner and MU graduate, was guest speaker at the New York event. The events have proved quite popular, and have enabled the Libraries to build and expand Mizzou connections beyond the state of Missouri.

Although the first major fundraising campaign for the MU Libraries is over, Gena Scott, Sheila Voss and Shannon Cary – with help from all of you – continue to cultivate donors and solicit support for the Libraries. Just recently, retired area physician and alumnus, Dr. Gene Ridenhour, established the Ruth E. Ridenour MU Libraries Student Ambassadors endowment in memory of his wife, who was a secretary at the Main Library (Ellis Library) in the 1960’s. In March, six of the student ambassadors attended leadership training and were able to meet Dr. Ridenhour. He talked to them about how much his wife loved working in the library and how she regarded the staff of the Libraries as a second family. It’s clear that library staff members make a difference in people’s lives.

So I want to thank all of you for the important role you played in the success of the For All We Call Mizzou campaign. Your talents, hard work and dedication to service demonstrate how important the Libraries are to the mission of the University. That is what enables us to maintain and increase support from our benefactors.

In January, I wrote about the budget challenges facing the University and the MU Libraries. Although we are still in the midst of difficult economic times, I don’t want to dwell on the bad news surrounding us. In recent months, I’ve had the chance to meet with groups of alumni and area residents to talk about what’s happening at Mizzou. There is a lot more to this place than just the football team and the billion dollar campaign, so I thought I would share some of the good news that everyone should know about MU.

Mizzou is indeed a world-class university:
• MU is one of only 34 public institutions among the 60 U.S. members of the Association of American Universities. That’s important because the AAU is the single most prestigious “club” in higher education. Only those universities recognized in the first rank are invited to join, and MU has been a member since 1908. (MU was the fifth public university elected to membership, ahead of KU which joined in 1909).
• For the past ten years, MU has led all other public universities of the AAU in annual growth of federally-funded research. MU is also in the top fifteen of all universities (public and private) in the growth of annual research funding in the life sciences. In 2008, we were ahead of places like Harvard, Stanford, Michigan and even Washington University/St. Louis.
• Eight MU programs rank in the top ten among the nation’s universities. Most people know about the J-School, but many are not aware that Creative Writing, Family Medicine, Interior Design, Counseling Psychology, BioMedicine, Dispute Resolution, and Veterinary Physiology are also in the top tier.

Mizzou is a destination university:
• MU is the first choice of a majority of MO high school grads, and it’s not like these students don’t have other choices. The 2008 freshman class boasts an ACT average score of 25.5, compared with the national average of 21.2 and the state average of 21.6. Nearly one-third of these freshmen came from the top 10 percent of their high school classes.
• Students come here to pursue some 270 degree programs in the nineteen schools and colleges at MU. This year, we topped 30,000 registered students on campus, and applications for next year’s class looks to be another record year.
• And we can be pleased with the progress these students are making. The six-year graduation rate is almost 70%. Over 90% find work after graduating, and the vast majority stay and work right here in Missouri.

Mizzou is an economic engine for the state:
• On average, MU spends $9.7 million in payroll, brings in $2.4 million in private donations, and wins $3.7 million in outside funding for research – every week. Last year, MU’s spending for research alone created 40 jobs for every $1 million in funding received.
• Since 2000, MU faculty and staff have launched 30 start-up companies, taking their research from the laboratory to the marketplace. MU filed 45 U.S. patent applications in 2007.
• A recent study estimated that research at MU supported 9,000 jobs resulting in about $440 million in economic activity. Only WalMart employs more people in the state than Mizzou.

As staff members of the Libraries, all of you play a huge role in supporting this institution, and you should take enormous pride in your contributions to its success. Even during tough times, Mizzou, with the support of its Libraries, will continue to provide Missourians all the benefits of a world-class research university. I always tell donors and community members about the great things that are happening at MU and in the Libraries, and I hope you will do the same with your friends and neighbors.

In a few weeks we will have our annual Celebration of Service event as part of the campus-wide employee recognition events. As part of that program, I will unveil my usual “Top Ten List” of notable accomplishments of the past year. In the Libraries and throughout the University, there are indeed many achievements worth celebrating, and we should keep them in mind as we deal with the challenges facing us. Thanks for all you do for MU and the MU Libraries.

Jim Cogswell

I am inaugurating this column in Library News Notes to provide a new forum for communication with the MU Libraries staff. The column will appear about once each month and deal with major issues and initiatives affecting the MU Libraries. If you have suggestions for topics that you would like to see addressed here, please send them to me via e-mail.

As you all know, the economic outlook for 2009 and for the new fiscal year beginning in July is bleak. On December 18, UM President Gary Forsee provided the state legislature with broad-brush scenarios on how the four UM campuses might respond to budget cuts that could range from 15% to 25% in fiscal year 2010. There are many questions, and few concrete answers, about what this will all mean for employees here at MU, but I want to take some time to respond to questions that have been raised by library staff and to give my thoughts concerning how the MU Libraries should deal with anticipated budget cuts.

One question I have heard concerns why the library is funding some reclassifications and competency level increases if money is so tight. The answer is that these actions were underway prior to the announcement of the hiring freeze and were approved by Jesse Hall in recent weeks. For example, Ernest Shaw was reclassified to Manager, Information Technology, replacing Michael Bland and leaving vacant Ernest’s former position of System Support Analyst. A few other salary equity increases were approved for the 2008 calendar year, but no other increases will be considered until the full extent of our budget situation is known. The increases in minimum wage for student workers, mandated by law to take effect in January, will be the last salary adjustments until further notice.

A second question is about the possibility of a rescission, or “give-back” of the state budget allocation to the University. I’m told it is likely that the governor will withhold some portion of state funds for public higher education in the coming spring. This amount could be anywhere from 5% to 8% of the state’s final allocation to Missouri public colleges and universities. We have to wait for an announcement from the Governor and then direction from UM System, but we are currently looking at ways to trim funds from acquisitions, open positions, and “E&E” funds (supplies, travel, equipment, etc.). If we must do so, I will look first to recover funds from our E&E budget and existing open positions.

The biggest question concerns how we will deal with anticipated budget cuts for the new fiscal year, which begins July, 2009. The magnitude of cuts ranging from 15% to 25% of the University’s operating budget is unprecedented. For this reason, nothing can be taken off the table as a means of meeting the budget shortfall. However, I have often said that layoffs would be the worst method we could use to deal with our budget problems. I believe this should be the very last option employed to meet any funding shortfalls. Accordingly, I pledge to do everything I can to avoid layoffs, and I will be advocating for alternative solutions, which may include some form of wage and benefits reductions instead of layoffs.

As we begin the new year, we know we have formidable challenges facing us. However, we also know we can succeed in meeting these challenges by working together to address them. The work will not be easy, but we have the very best colleagues with whom to work. Together we will provide the quality service our users have come to expect. Thank you for your dedicated service to MU and its Libraries.

Jim Cogswell