These plans allow consumers to exercise better control over their expenditures (Graham, 2006). The best example of this trend is the telecommunications companies’ flexible pay-as-you-go plans. Payment PlansĬonsumer-driven market trends show a shift towards selective purchasing whereby consumers pay only for desired features. Simply put, the less money libraries have to spend, the fewer resources librarians can buy. Joseph Branin and Mary Case, in “Reforming Scholarly Publishing in the Sciences,” report that serials purchases declined by 7% between 19 for the largest research libraries in the United States and Canada (Branin and Case, 1998). Data compiled by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) shows that the median ARL library will be able to buy 16% fewer serials in the year 2020 compared to 1986 (Kyrillidou, 2000). The rise in journal prices negatively affects the purchasing power of libraries. Schlimgen reports that journal prices jumped 51.9% from 1996 to 1999 and an additional 32% from 1999 to 2002 (Schlimgen, 2004). An original study by Joan Schlimgen entitled “Update on Inflation of Journal Prices” found that prices continued to rise independently of the Consumer Price Index. Research illustrates the continual rise in journal costs.
These are realities that librarians are coping with. Research libraries in the United States spend more than $500 million on journals annually, and several large libraries estimate that they spend 20% of their budgets on electronic materials (Hayden, 2003). However, expenditures on journals comprise about 70% of the average academic library’s budget for materials. Budget crunches are caused by many reasons. In Denver, the public library is now closed one additional weekday.
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The West Virginia State University library now charges residents $50 annually to check out books-previously a free service. California libraries have posted “wish lists” online to acquire materials they can no longer afford. The New York Public Library asks for donations at the checkout desk. For example, in Pennsylvania library funds have been cut in half. Many library changes are a result of crippling budget cuts. I invite you to take a light-hearted look back and laugh as I chronicle the fears librarians have overcome and the strengths the profession has found in the process. After witnessing the horrors facing library budgets, Jaws seems almost comical.
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As a child, I thought Jaws was the most frightening movie imaginable. I view these changes that libraries have undergone in the context of the horror movie Jaws. The serials crisis is at heart a fable, a horror tale in which the main characters grow and learn. This essay offers an historical perspective on this problem, and reflects on a few significant changes libraries have survived. As the mission of the library is to provide information at low cost, that was not a viable solution. For instance, they found that patrons did not seek information from electronic journals because of the costs. Libraries considered, and rejected, pay-as-you-go plans because they created a set of issues that challenged the very mission of the library. After reviewing the literature, and interviewing seasoned library professionals, I was dismayed to discover that libraries had been there and done that. I bravely assumed the solution was to use pay-as-you-go plans as a cost-containment measure. Due to the graphic nature and adult language used in the scripts, reader discretion is advised.Īs a young, generation-X librarian new to the profession, I set out to devise a new solution to the problem of skyrocketing journal prices. The author’s revised movie script illustrates the parallels between the terrorized islanders in the original movie and the once-fearful librarians warring against rising journal prices. This article shows how the battle for more affordable journals has empowered librarians and helped make them a more cohesive community. To emphasize this point, the author has revised the script of the movie Jaws so that the horror transpires within a library setting.
Libraries' battle against rising journal prices and the publishing industry is compared to a horror movie. Sharks in the Library! This article is a historical perspective on librarians’ fight against rising journal prices.
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