For several years, SUNY Potsdam has been struggling to design a better budget allocation model for library collections. In the past, the formula we used for allocating funds seemed to be equitable, but in reality it was not the best approach. Our “New Budget Model” focuses on supporting the research projects assigned to students rather than what librarians and faculty think ought to be in a “good college library”. While the new model continues to be a work in progress, we have learned a lot about faculty perceptions and have had opportunities to share our ideas about the changing nature of academic library collections and services.
For several years, SUNY Potsdam has been struggling to design a better budget allocation model for library collections. In the past, the formula we used for allocating funds seemed to be equitable, but in reality it was not the best approach. Our “New Budget Model” focuses on supporting the research projects assigned to students rather than what librarians and faculty think ought to be in a “good college library”. While the new model continues to be a work in progress, we have learned a lot about faculty perceptions and have had opportunities to share our ideas about the changing nature of academic library collections and services.