Year 2 of the “Great Recession”: Surviving the Present by Building the Future

ABSTRACT During Fiscal Year 2008–2009 the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) surveyed its 123 members on the impact of the worldwide contraction and reported the results (see http://www.arl.org/sparc/meetings/ala09/index.shtml). The findings indicate the emergence of drastic steps needed to “right size” budgets that were reduced to meet institutional loss of income from a variety of sources, particularly tax support and endowment earnings. The impact of the 1st year of the downturn was taken primarily from operations and staff with large efforts to protect acquisitions. Every indicator pointed to this trend not being sustainable for the next fiscal period. A 2nd survey, conducted in the fall of 2009, indicated that the crisis has grown worse for Fiscal Year 2009–2010. It is anticipated that the steep decline in institutional revenues will continue throughout the year with repeated reductions and cyclical need to constrain expenditures. The necessary budget cutbacks are having an impact on all segments of ARL member library budgets—operations, staff, and acquisitions. It is clear that the elements of recovery being seen worldwide will have no positive impact for higher education in North America for the current fiscal year and likely beyond. Primary income sources have not recovered—state tax revenues are down, endowment expenditures are being eliminated in hopes of growing capital, and tuition is increases are being restrained. The depth of the recession has accelerated a process in the research library community that has been underway for some years. This process is aimed at fundamentally reshaping the mission of the research library to meet transformational changes eventuating from the higher education and scholarly communication environments.