Damn the Recession: Full Speed Ahead

Miller, Rush G. (2011) Damn the Recession: Full Speed Ahead. In: From Surviving to Thriving: Building Blocks of Success, the 28th Annual Conference of the University of Oklahoma Libraries, March 3-4, 2011, Oklahoma City, OK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Academic libraries have undergone an evolutionary change as emerging technologies have impacted operations and services during the past two decades. For much of this period, increasing budgets have enabled libraries to keep pace with needed change. For the past two years, many academic libraries have lost significant funding due to the economic recession. Coping with the need to increase commitment to emerging roles in scholarly communication in order to remain relevant to the academic enterprise, the challenges faced today are threatening to undermine the progress of recent years. This paper argues that it is not a time for retrenchment and timidity but for expansion and boldness for academic libraries. The library that thrives, even in the midst of a recession, will be the one which seizes the opportunity to re-design itself for the future.

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