Davis-02, 'Support for Library Grows', NCSU Libraries Newsletter v20n07 (March 1993)
 
_The NCSU Libraries Newsletter_
Volume 20 no. 7
March 1993
Davis, Jinnie Y.
"Support for Library Grows"


Library Endowment Grows

The size of the NCSU Libraries' endowment grew dramatically 
this semester with the establishment of new endowments to 
support the undergraduate collections.  Seizing the opportunity 
presented by a $200,000 gift from an anonymous alumnus, the 
Libraries targeted its use as a challenge grant to match 
contributions for collections support.  The NCSU Class of 1993 
and the Parents Association rose to the challenge:  the seniors 
pledged a record-breaking $174,900 for the Class of 1993 
Collections Endowment, and the parents are expected to 
surpass their highest goal ever of $100,000.  With almost 
$474,000 raised from these sources alone, 1992-93 is already 
shaping up as the Libraries' best fund-raising year on record.

The Growing Environment of Support

At the same time, the University has stated as its goal the 
positioning of the NCSU Libraries in the top fifty among 
academic libraries in North America.  Chancellor Monteith is 
committed to achieving this goal within the next several 
biennia through three strategies:  support from the state 
budget, internal reallocations of the University budget, and 
building a significant library endowment.

Through this strategy, the chancellor expects to see a 30 
percent increase in the Libraries' overall budget, reflecting an 
increase in its share of the NCSU budget from 2.2 percent to 3 
percent, and an improvement in its Association of Research 
Libraries (ARL) ranking to the 50th percentile.  The newly 
released 1991-92 _ARL Statistics_ show progress in these 
directions:  the Libraries' ranking has improved by four places 
and its percentage of the University's general and educational 
budget has increased from 2.2 percent to 2.3 percent.

Support for the Future

The 1993-95 NCSU and UNC system change budget requests 
total almost $2.5 million in new and recurring library 
resources focusing on library support.  The almost $1.5 million 
of that targeted for collections would result in a more than 40 
percent increase in the NCSU collections budget alone.  The 
fact that Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., has included the "library 
request" as a high priority in the budget that he has proposed 
to the General Assembly bodes well for a successful outcome.  
Moreover, the UNC Board of Governors has expressed its 
support for library funding.  If the change budget request is 
funded, the NCSU community will be able to see growth, 
instead of cuts, in its journal collections.

Importantly, the University administration has committed--in 
the event that this change budget request is not funded--to a 
reallocation of more than $600,000 in internal resources in 
the 1993-95 biennium to ensure that over 90 percent of the 
journals collection and monographic acquisitions rate will be 
preserved, despite the ravages of double-digit inflation.  In 
either case, the University community can look forward to 
visible improvements in the NCSU Libraries' collections for 
their educational, research, and extension needs.