Reaffirming Faculty Support of Adequate Library Collections Funding

The Faculty Senate Library Committee and the Faculty Senate in 2021 unanimously passed a motion to fund the Libraries base collections budget with a permanent addition of $200,000 and annual increases of 4.5% to the total collections budget. The previous Provost, Brent Carbajal, agreed to this solution with a plan for five installments but there was a failure to follow through after the first installment.

Until FY2024, the Western Libraries had been using carryforward to offset inflation and postpone subscription cancellations. The FY2024 University-wide sweep of unspent state funds eliminated these carryforward funds. As a result, the Libraries has announced $29,000 in cancellations during 2024-25; $101,000 during 2025-26; and $100,000+ in subsequent years. 

The 2024 Senate Library Committee survey and report highlighted that a large majority of faculty across colleges and programs ranked collections as a top library service, and stated that “Many respondents expressed dissatisfaction with Western’s collections, notably inadequate subscriptions to journals and databases in their disciplines. Respondents noted that delayed access to the most recent literature negatively impacts their scholarship and teaching;” 

In response to the situation, the Senate Executive Committee drafted a resolution which urges the Administration to return the swept funds to the Western Libraries collections budget and to provide adequate and sustainable funding for collections going forward.

Resolution No. 2025-01, A Resolution of the Faculty Senate of Western Washington University Regarding Libraries Collections Budget  was approved by a vote of 23 in favor, 2 abstentions, on January 27, 2025.