Abstract
When other libraries had their budgets cut, Middlesbrough College’s Learning Resources Centre (LRC) enjoyed a stable (yet not increasing) budget with minor cuts from 2015–2017. For 2017–2018, the LRC was required to save 50% of its non-pay budget. The cuts were not unexpected, but so much in one go was a severe shock. As a matter of good practice, we were already making data-driven decisions for all our resources and were trying to get the best deals we could. It was time for consolidation, tougher decisions and, possibly, some radical thinking. At the beginning of 2017 this process started, and is now reaping rewards. This article will set out how decisions on making the necessary budget cuts were made, what was done to make the reduced budget go further (whilst maintaining the high quality of services) and the results of the exercise. The author presented this work at the UKSG E-resources for Further Education event in November 2018.
Highlights
As with other further education (FE) colleges, Middlesbrough College has had major budget reductions since the UK Government’s austerity measures began in 2008
The Learning Resources Centre’s (LRC’s) overall budget is split into eight areas:
We started a ‘journal of the month’ promotion to try to encourage use, and we looked through back issues of journals to create a bibliographic list of relevant content relating to known enquiries. (We record our enquiries, which is something that seems to be unusual in FE)
Summary
As with other further education (FE) colleges, Middlesbrough College has had major budget reductions since the UK Government’s austerity measures began in 2008. Unlike many colleges that had reductions year on year, Middlesbrough College’s reductions came over two or three years starting out as a light touch, becoming very drastic. The Learning Resources Centre’s (LRC’s) overall budget is split into eight areas:
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