McGill Association of University Teachers -
Librarians' Section
Report for CAUT, March 1999
The effect of budget cuts on the Library's Acquisitions budget:
| YEAR | BASE BUDGET INCREASE | BUDGET CUT REQUIRED (COLLECTIONS & SERVICES) | COLLECTIONS $ CUT | NET INCREASE TO COLLECTIONS $ |
| 1993/94 | 1M | 246,800 | 0 | 1,000,000 |
| 1994/95 | 500K | 505,000 | 125,000 | 375,000 |
| 1995/96 | 500K | 668,000 | 217,000 | 283,000 |
| 1996/97 | 600K | 1,170,000 | 339,000 | 261,000 |
| 1997/98 | 400K | 786,000 | 168,000 | 232,000 |
| 1998/99 | 100K | 253,000 | 0 | 100,000 |
| TOTAL | 3.1M | 3,628,800 | 849,000 | 2,251,000 |
The effect of budget cuts on the Library's staff:
| 1996 | Professional Staff | Support Staff | Total Staff |
| 76 | 186 | 262 | |
| 1997 | 64 (-16%) | 162 (-13%) | 226 (-14%) |
The annual operating budget cuts are calculated on the basis of the total operating budget (staff as well as collections) but the Library protects the collections/information resources component. The Library spends some 35% of its operating funds on collections. By protecting the collections budget, there is an additional tax on the salary budget which has a negative impact on services and on the Library ranking. McGill's Library Ranking
Each year, the Chronicle of Higher Education publishes a ranking of 110 university research libraries throughout North America that meet the criteria for membership in the Association of Research Libraries. These data are provided to the Chronicle by ARL. The rankings that appeared on May 15th, 1998 show McGill at number 58 out of 110. In past years, the rankings were 45 (1995-96), 43 (1994-95), 44 (1993-94), 42 (1992-93), 40 (1991-92), 41 (1990-91). This drop in rank by 13 points is largely due to staff cuts, and to a lesser degree, the value of the Canadian dollar.
Source: McGill Director of Library's Planning Report, July 1998, available at http://www.library.mcgill.ca/admin/reports/plan98.htm