CAMPUS NOTICE

 

OFFICE OF THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIAN

May 21, 2012


ALL ACADEMICS, STAFF AND STUDENTS AT UCSD (INCLUDING HEALTH SCIENCES)

SUBJECT:    Update on Library Consolidations

Like many academic libraries, the UC San Diego Libraries are witnessing increased demand for digital services and resources and declining demand for physical resources. As a result of these changes in how faculty and students use our services and resources, along with continuing budget constraints, the Libraries have been working to consolidate the collections and services of three smaller library facilities into our remaining two buildings on campus-the Geisel Library and the Biomedical Library building.

Because of these changes, the Libraries are consolidating internally as well, a process that is now underway and will continue over the next year. With fewer staff now, the Libraries will be transitioning away from a decentralized, discipline-based, branch library model to a leaner, more centralized, and more efficient, program-based organization, with the goal of maintaining excellent and responsive user services. This new organizational structure will eliminate redundancies across our organization, and enable us to provide a more integrated and uniform suite of services and resources to our campus users.

As part of these consolidations - physical and organizational - over the next year we will be transitioning in name from the "UC San Diego Libraries" to the "UC San Diego Library." We believe this new name will better reflect our new organizational structure as a single campus library providing a more centralized and streamlined suite of services and resources to the campus community.

As we move forward with this transition, campus users will continue to have access to many of the services and resources - both digital and physical - that they have come to expect from the Libraries. The Libraries will continue to support campus teaching and research with expert and subject-based support and assistance, and with the physical spaces that students need.

While we do not anticipate that the internal restructuring of the Libraries will have a significant impact on faculty, students, or other users, we will continue, over the next several months, to solicit feedback from library users to ensure that the changes we implement effectively meet the programmatic and service needs of our campus community.

As I've noted previously, the Libraries will be consolidating the Scripps Library print collections into the Geisel Library, starting in July 2012. The newly named "Scripps Archives and Library Annex," located on the 3rd floor of the Eckart building on the Scripps campus, will continue to provide access to Scripps special collections and archives by appointment, Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 p.m.

While the Scripps Library will no longer be open to the public after June 29, 2012, the Libraries and Scripps are committed to ensuring that members of the Scripps community continue to have access to needed study space and library resources. Study space will be made available to students on the Scripps campus and requested library materials will be delivered from Geisel Library to Scripps. Moreover, the Libraries will continue to maintain and augment the university's outstanding collections in Marine and Oceanographic Sciences, and library staff will continue to be available to consult with faculty, students, and staff. While a number of items from the collection are currently available digitally, materials from the print collections will continue to be accessible from Geisel Library.

For more information about the Scripps Library consolidations: http://sio.ucsd.edu/Announcements/Library_Update/

As we move forward in planning for consolidating our collections in a smaller footprint, we will continue to actively solicit feedback from faculty, students, and other members of the campus community in order to gain greater insight into academic preferences and concerns. This feedback is essential to us in determining where best to locate and how best to organize collections to support faculty and student research and teaching, and minimize disruptions.

To provide feedback on our collection consolidation efforts:
http://libraries.ucsd.edu/collections/consolidation-qa-feedback.html

Realizing that these library changes may be disruptive for our users, the Libraries are committed to doing all we can to minimize those disruptions. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding during this transition and welcome and value your feedback.

For more information about Library consolidations:
http://libraries.ucsd.edu/budgetcutsFAQ/index.html

To provide feedback: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/suggestions.html



Brian E. C. Schottlaender
The Audrey Geisel University Librarian