UC Berkeley's libraries next chapter may be cuts
UC Berkeley ranks among the five best universities on the planet in part because an engineering researcher there has no trouble finding the gravity study he needs from the 1970s. An art historian doesn’t have to be in Japan to lay his hands on a 128-year-old Kyoto guidebook. And a French scholar can examine a certain 16th century manuscript on European literary academies, no problem. Yet the great university’s libraries are in trouble… Berkeley has reduced its library spending by 12 percent since 2008, even as the University of Michigan, its main public competitor, has spent 24 percent more. Berkeley now spends about $50 million to Michigan’s $64 million – and has lost 70 of its 400 library professionals. An additional 20 positions will be kept vacant after retirements over the next three years…
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by Nanette Asimov, The San Francisco Chronicle.