MIT Libraries Budget Information

Welcome to the MIT Libraries Budget Information Site. This site has been created to help communicate the necessary steps being taken by the MIT Libraries to align services and operations with the funds available in the current economic environment. The goal of the site is to provide the MIT community with important information about changes at the Libraries and share the principles that are guiding the Libraries through this fiscal challenge.

Guiding principles and features of overall budget planning in the MIT Libraries

The Libraries will be guided by mission, experience, data, and feedback received from recent surveys of students and faculty.
The Faculty Committee on the Library System will play an important role, consistent with its charge.
Reductions will be taken on a programmatic basis to the degree possible, to reduce the need for across-the-board cuts.
Conservation of resources will play an essential role in the Libraries' strategy, but "belt-tightening" alone will not achieve the scale of budget reductions required.
Budget planning will be as open and transparent as possible

Budget Reductions for FY 2011

MIT Libraries Re-Organization and Budget Reductions for Fiscal Year 2011. Questions should be directed to budgetfeedback-lib@mit.edu.

Budget Reduction Mandate—FY 2010

As part of the Institute-wide mandate to reduce General Institute Budget expenditures in the 2010 fiscal year, the MIT Libraries are required to reduce their budget by $1.4M by July 1, 2009. Further budget reductions are anticipated for FY2011 and FY2012.

The FY2010 budget target will require substantial reductions in labor costs, operating expenses, and collections budgets, combined. Maintaining access to networked information resources and services and providing staffed hours of operation in the Libraries' largest, most heavily used facilities will be among the high priorities.

Actions to Date - FY 2010

The MIT Libraries have announced that they will suspend regular hours of operation in the Lindgren Library and the Aero-Astro Library effective June 30, 2009. Collections will be evaluated for relocation, and the Libraries will work with the EAPS and Aero/Astro communities to find new solutions to assure the continued availability of resources and specialized information services.
Aero/Astro relocation | Lindgren relocation

Aero/Astro Library collections relocated, fully accessible by July 2

As of Friday, June 26 the Aeronautics and Astronautics Library (Aero/Astro) will officially close its doors and its collections will be relocated to other areas within the MIT Libraries. The majority of the collections will move to the Barker Engineering Library. Barker will house all current, unbound Aero/Astro journals, as well as books, theses, CDs and DVDs. All materials are expected to be fully accessible to users by July 2nd.

Older bound journals have been moved to the Library Storage Annex. Electronic (PDF) files of articles from these journals can be requested through Barton. Whole volumes may also be requested through Barton and delivered to a library location of choice.

During the move, assistance is available for retrieving books formerly located in the Aero/Astro Library -- call x3-5661, or inquire at the Barker Engineering Library Service Desk. Aero/Astro databases and other electronic resources will continue to be accessible 24/7: see http://libguides.mit.edu/aero for links to these resources. For additional information about Aero/Astro collections, contact Barbara Williams, the Aero/Astro librarian via email at barbaraw@mit.edu or by phone at x3-5666.

Lindgren Library collections relocated to Hayden Library

The last day of service in the Lindgren Library (54-200) will be Friday July 31, 2009. Lindgren’s collection of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences’ books, journals, and CDs will begin to move to Hayden Library (14S-100) Monday August 3. The relocated materials are expected to be in place and accessible by the end of the week. If any Lindgren materials are needed during the move, please contact Joe Hankins (3-9325, jhankins@mit.edu) or Chris Sherratt (3-5648, gscherra@mit.edu). The Hayden Service Desk staff (3-5671) can also be of assistance.

Final arrangements for the future locations of maps and theses formerly housed in Lindgren will be completed during the upcoming weeks. Contact information for Joe Hankins and Chris Sherratt will remain the same.

Additional Details

Updates will be posted on this site as details become available. Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome, and can be sent to: budgetfeedback-lib@mit.edu .

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This page was last updated on 01/25/11