Diane Johnson, Taira Meadowcroft, Gemille Purnell, and Rachel Alexander were collaborators in a Performance Improvement Project featured on a poster for MU Healthcare Sharing Days called, “An email campaign to register research faculty for ORCID identifiers.” This was a joint effort from the School of Medicine Research Council, the Health Sciences Library, and several Health Management and Informatics students participating in the Performance Improvement-Leadership Development Program.
Hello everyone,
Sunny and 75 degrees—looks like spring is really here. Graduation isn’t far behind, and we can hope for a peaceful and not-too-hot summer.
Some questions have come my way since our last budget forum, so I thought it would be best to answer them for everyone. The first question is, “why are we going ahead with searches when we are in a budget crunch?” The answer to that one is that we have to try to maintain our core activities and keep pursuing our first library goal, of being more central to instruction and research, even with a decreased budget. We are emphasizing outreach and having librarians working with faculty and students. That explains how important it is to fill the Engineering Librarian position and the Head of Instruction positions.
The Assistant Director for Special Collections, Archives and Rare Books (SCARaB) can be an important position for outreach also, but more importantly that position has been re-designed to also have Digital Services and Preservation responsibilities, as well as having the emphasis of the position shifted from Archives to Special Collections. Our second library goal is “To assure the quality, diversity and preservation of our library collections for the campus and the wider academic community.” The Special Collections areas of research libraries are to a great extent what distinguish one library collection from another. Many libraries have the same general resources we do, all purchased from the same vendors. What other libraries don’t have is the unique things we have in all the areas of SCARaB. What we do with those resources, and how we preserve and digitize all of our unique holdings, are essential parts of the mission of a research library. Some may argue that those functions are less important than serving our science researchers, but I disagree, as would most of our humanities faculty on campus, and most librarians across the academic world. Rare books tend to attract attention and big donors, two things our libraries need more of, as well as being the icons that excite and attract students to more traditional humanities studies and book arts. I don’t have to tell you all how important digital projects are to the future of libraries, and how much we need to more forward from the days of microfilm. These are all reasons that the SCARaB position is a high priority to fill in our current situation. The area has much unrealized potential, and we need a leader to move it forward. We cannot afford not to develop our rare and special collections, and we cannot afford not to move more aggressively in digitization.
Another question that has come forward is “Why are we not talking about furloughs rather than losing more staff positions?” That is a harder question; the HR people say furloughs are very expensive to implement, and don’t save enough money to justify all the extra work they create. Problems arise with leave accrual, bargaining unit contracts, health coverage etc. One administrator describes them as “morale-destroyers” that are exceptionally rough on employees that are on the lesser end of the pay scales. Other states also report that furloughs caused more trouble than they were worth. So currently, MU is not looking at them for cost savings.
A comment, rather than a question, that often comes up is “Why is this happening? We need to fire all the administrators! Or cut everyone’s pay until they ___________ (fill in the blank)” I think we’ve seen in the last few years that firing administrators can actually cause more confusion and make things worse, and based on their contracts, may not even save money. So while reducing the number of administrators can work, extreme measures in this area also don’t really fix anything.
We have to keep moving toward our goals and maintaining our collection for future students and researchers whatever our resources. We’ve had bad times before, and we have to get through this round the best that we can. The Libraries will still be here in 100 more years and we want them to reflect good decisions on our part. What will they say about us? I can just imagine a sentence in the next library history about the “mid-twenty-first century financial struggles.”
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication as we go through yet another round of budget cuts. Keep your questions coming!
Ann
"Overcoming diabetes through churches in Columbia's African-American community"
Columbia Missourian, April 28, 2017
Financial Wellness Seminar
Cultivating financial wellness can be as easy as completing a few steps annually. Check out the financial wellness webpage to register for a workshop and access your one-stop-shop for financial information, tools, and events.
Budgeting for WEALTH
When: May 2, 2017
Time: 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Location: Ellis Library 106A and UM University Hall (Telepresence)
Registration: Online
Invest Confidently in your Future
When: May 9, 2017
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Ellis Library 106A and UM University Hall (Telepresence)
Registration: Online
As a Healthy for Life sponsored workshop, eligible employees may earn 25 points for participation in the Financial Wellness Workshops. There are a maximum of 100 points possible for this category.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is an in-person 8-week program that helps participants learn to manage today’s busy lifestyles in a healthy way. Click here to learn more or contact David Burks at dburks@gmail.com.
As a Healthy for Life sponsored workshop, first time participants may earn 100 points towards Tier 2. Contact wellness@umsystem.edu for questions.
Enhance Your Relationships with FREE Classes!
ShowMe Healthy Relationships offers classes for couples and singles. Learn ways to choose a great partner when you’re ready or strengthen your current committed relationship. Sign up for 5-week classes starting in June!
Click here or call Miriam Cullimore at (573) 882-4325 or Emily Logan at 882-3013 for more info!
Next Meeting: Tuesday 5/09/17 2:00-3:30pm Ellis 159
Attendees: Ann Riley, Deb Ward, Corrie Hutchinson, Sheryl Cullina, Kathy Peters, Jeannette Pierce, Pat Jones, Shannon Cary, Tom Barnes, Anselm Huelsbergen
Agenda Items:
LMT retreat: 5/10 is the first choice, 6/13 is the 2nd choice for dates for the LMT retreat.
Library Society: This Friday and Saturday will be the Donor Recognition Weekend.
-Friday: Loading dock will be in use from about 8:15am onwards on Friday, and most of the day on Saturday. Please avoid the loading dock during these times.
-Saturday: The room should be back in order by 5:00pm Saturday.
-Sunday: The area will be in normal use.
ACTION: All staff email to be sent Thursday informing everyone of the schedule, and to avoid the loading dock areas.
ACTION: Shannon will make sure Special Collections knows about their display in 213, not 201.
Dehumidifiers for 2E: A dehumidifier is needed in 2E. Specs and placement need to be decided.
ACTION: More HOBO sensors will be placed in that area to gather better data to help decide placement.
ACTION: Ann will discuss several items, including this, with Heiddi Davis in a meeting on Thursday 4/27/17.
System Library heads meeting with President Choi: This telepresence meeting included the heads of all UM System Libraries, and several UM System administrators. Ann reported on what was discussed.
FY18 Budget: The FY 18 budget was discussed, continuing on from the 4/20/17 LMT meeting discussion, and will continue into the next meeting.
-A formal System-wide announcement is expected to be made 6/3.
CSC Updates: Ongoing projects were discussed, particularly relating to FY18 budget concerns.
ACTION: current budget model effects are to be written up for presentation outside the university Libraries.
MyVITA: The University is moving forward with this for the evaluation system. It requires some MULAC involvement, and actions by Librarians and Archivists.
New Furniture: In times of budget constraints, new furniture has historically caused bad feelings among the University Community. In light of this, we need to push out the story of how (and why) we have funded the new furniture purchases.
ACTION: A historical list of SFCIC and Student Enhancement Fee projects and how they were paid for should be created and posted on the website.
ACTION: Notices thanking the students and donors for the new furniture, with before and after photos, should be created and posted in the areas of the new furniture.
ACTION: Messages in media/on social media about the new furniture and why/how should be pushed out, in an effort to forestall ill will.
Attendees: Ann Riley, Deb Ward, Corrie Hutchinson, Sheryl Cullina, Kathy Peters, Jeannette Pierce, Pat Jones, Shannon Cary
Agenda Items
Sign Update:
Summer Hours:
MU MERLIN Advisory Committee General Policy Manual Policy No. 50 http://libraryguides.missouri.edu/librarypolicies/policy50
Scan on Demand
Microfilm Project
ACTION: Corrie will talk to the Collections Steering Committee about their opinion on investing collection resources into this project.
ACTION: Anselm will look into prices for digitizing the microfilm collection.
Staff Development Committee
Budget Update
Attendees: Ann Riley, Deb Ward, Corrie Hutchinson, Sheryl Cullina, Kathy Peters, Jeannette Pierce, Pat Jones, Shannon Cary, Tom Barnes, Ernest Shaw, Anselm Huelsbergen
Agenda Items:
Dean’s Council: Dean’s Council is very concerned about the cuts
– Final announcement is to be on 6/3, which creates tough timing.
-There is no word from the legislature on its actions, and there will not be until late May.
-All Schools and Colleges are doing program reviews for vertical cuts, but there will likely not be savings from those cuts for 2-3 years.
All Staff Meeting on Budget: Overall, it went well.
-ACTION: Sheryl will create an anonymous box on the staff site for more suggestions.
Near Future Top level travel:
-Ann out 5/1-5/5 for ARL: Deb will be here
-Ann out 5/28-6/10: Deb, Jeanette and Corrie will be here in some combination
-Ann out 6/24-6/28 for ALA: Deb will be here
Staff Award: Sheryl will investigate further
-Celebration of Service: Thursday 5/18 11:30am: as many as possible should attend
-Michaelle is receiving a prize during Staff Apprecitation Week.
-ACTION: We will send out a reminder of this event and ask library employees to attend.
Staff Development Committee:
-Raffle to encourage participation in professional development is approved by LMT.
-LMT sees professional development as part of the job. Training is done on University time, and with University resources. There is an expectation for employees to improve themselves and their ability to do their jobs.
-ACTION: Raffle to be written up as a pilot plan, and to be approved by the provost.
-Prizes should be limited to a total of $100
Nametags: ACTION: Follow up for next LMT Meeting.
AED: ACTION: Pat Jones will order 3 more defribulators. Signs will be arranged stating that they are for use by trained people only.
Logistics:
-Outdoor lighting plans for 24/5 hours this fall are moving forward.
-Furniture moving plans are moving forward.
-Steam Pipe under Lowry Mall: North side of the mall will be pulled up beginning around 6/15 to reroute steam pipes and repair the tunnel. The area will likely be disrupted for the entire ’17-’18 academic year. Facilities would not admit to any estimate of noise levels.
-ACTION: A letter will be sent to facilities asking that the area not be resurfaced with bricks: they are slippery when wet, and water causes uneven and dangerous surfaces.
State Historical Society:
-Ann attended the groundbreaking event, which went well and was well attended.
-MU Libraries was thanked.
Budget FY18:
-Submit budgets with 12% cuts by 5/1. Ann will submit a narrative to Provost Stokes along with the budget.
-LMT needs to set a set of strategic goals (focus, cuts), set plan to meet them, and COMMUNICATE what this is and how decisions that are made should works towards meeting those goals, and why.