These are slides based on a small bit of research I conducted to crowdsource ideas on ways to make savings in terms of time and money for library and information services. Presented at the JISC Information Environment 2011 workshop (7th April 2011). Further details on this work will be blogged about in due course.

1. Save the Cheerleader! Save the
Library..?
LIS Resource & efficiency savings ideas
Gaz J Johnson
Document Supply & Repository Manager
David Wilson Library
University of Leicester
7th April 2011
gjj6@le.ac.uk
www.le.ac.uk

2. The Challenge
• Source ideas from the cloud
– On LIS service efficiency savings and cost
– Aimed for ideas not obstacles
• Gathered through a range of sources
– Social media (twitter, Facebook etc)
– Online survey
– Email exchanges and discussions
• Concepts presented as is, and may not represent
personal or organisationally held POVs!
– Tabula rasa approach

3. Survey Respondants by Sector
Governmental
5%
NHS
6%
Public Libraries
14% Academic (HE)
45%
Academic (FE)
31%
N = 64

4. Time Frame of Anticipated Savings
2011 (in progress)
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
Unlikely 20.0%
2011 (anticipated)
10.0%
0.0%
By Dec 2016 By Dec 2012

5. Most effective resource saving
measures you have encountered?
Image generated by Wordle.net

6. Resource Saving Experiences
• Staff redundancies/Voluntary severance/Staff
cuts/Non replacement of vacant posts
• Flexibility of staff in the roles and tasks they can
partake in/Change in staff attitude
• Cancelling expensive (and poor cost per download)
resource subscriptions/Spend less on printed
materials/standing orders
• Outsourcing aspects of acquisitions/automating &
reducing in-house book processing
• More energy efficiency to save on running costs

7. The most effective staff time saving
measures you have encountered?
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8. Time Saving Experiences
• Outsourcing, changing processes (ie shelving workflow)
/Making procedures more straightforward
• Removing the cataloguer post(s) and buying in shelf-ready
books/simplify cataloguing procedure
• Team work, flexibility, multi-tasking/Reducing professional
demarcations/Concerns over stress from change
• Minimising static service points so that time isn't spent sitting
waiting for work to do/Self-service issue, return etc.
• Moving as many systems and processes as possible online

9. The single most effective & least
disruptive cost-saving improvement
that you would make?
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10. Effective but Least Disruptive?
• Staff talent is overlooked and under-used/New ways of working-more
working from home/More efficient use of librarians time
• Reducing the senior management team/Cut down on in house
bureaucracy
• Review staffing (evenings/weekends) by senior staff/substitute non-
professional staff or student volunteers
• Reviewing the processes of all services and areas of the library/Close
smaller branch libraries/Cut non-core services that have little
impact/value/
• Monitoring with a view to cutting what is not used enough to justify
costs/Cut e-resources budget/Cancelling high journal subs.
• Stop providing staplers, pens, paper etc etc to students when they never
bring their own
• Use the technology that we have to its full potential

11. Impact of “Traditional” Approaches
Approach Modal Perception
• Reduce non professional staffing levels Extremely disruptive (52.5%)
(front of house)
• Reduce non professional staffing levels Moderately disruptive (30.0%)
(back office)
• Reduce professional staffing levels Moderately disruptive (41.7%)
• Reduce opening hours Extremely disruptive (57.4%)
• Decrease new stock acquisitions Moderately disruptive (47.5%)
• Decrease reliance on physical collections Slightly disruptive (33.33%)
• Outsource acquisition related activities Negligible disruption(28.3%)
• Outsource technical support Negligible disruption (25.0%)

12. General Comments & Thoughts
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13. Comments: Final Quotes
• Evaluating services and thinking about which are absolutely
essential, and which are only desirable (don't hold onto
anything that can be done by others)
• Trying to resist any further large scale savings, as they
would have a negative impact on students' success rates.
• Need to take a more commercial approach to generating
income without endangering access to services. (sell
stationery, withdrawn stock etc)
• Reducing both staff and resources will cut costs but means
you end up doing less with less…

14. Contacts
• Gareth J Johnson
– Document Supply & Repository Manager
– gjj6@le.ac.uk 0116-252-2039
– Twitter: llordllama
Slides: www.slideshare.net/GazJJohnson
Blog: llordllama.wordpress.com