Policies
The Library’s first priority is to support the curriculum at Saint Xavier University. Students are challenged in their studies to explore a wide range of human issues and to formulate their own responses. As a result, the library acquires materials that represent the full range of opinions and ideas.
The Library supports faculty research through interlibrary loan, cooperative arrangements with other libraries, and access to a wide range of electronic databases.
Resources may be in a variety of formats to provide as much subject coverage as possible within budgetary constraints. The collection is kept current and vital through judicious replacement and weeding.
The criteria that selectors use to evaluate potential purchases are the quality of content and the fulfillment of curricular needs. Specific considerations include the following:
Print Books
In addition to the criteria above, the following considerations are used:
Electronic Resources
The selection criteria for electronic resources are the same as for other formats. In addition, the following considerations may apply:
Other Nonprint Materials
The selection criteria for nonprint materials are the same as for other formats, with special emphases on the suitability of the format to the content, the quality of the production, the sustainability of the format, and the obsolescence of the equipment needed to access the format.
Please send suggested purchases using our Purchase Request Information process.
The library is experiencing significant budget pressure due to a variety of factors:
The library annual allocation does not increase at a rate that can match these new costs.
Therefore, the library performs cost-per-use evaluations and reallocates our existing resources in order to find a balance that maintains our traditional services as well as adopts new tools and services. Some cancelations need to occur to create flexibility in our funds. We involve the faculty and staff in these assessments and deliberations, which often include restrictions based upon pre-created packages and other aggregated full text tools. We continue to monitor the disruptive Open Access movement as a possible alternative to present commercial distribution mechanisms for peer reviewed material.
We also utilize cooperative collection development projects with other state-wide libraries within the CARLI consortium in order to provide a deeper and more cost-effective collection.
BUDGET DATA:
Total budget was $1,591,925 in FY2015 = -547,567 = 34% cut
Below are graphs showing the cost of library materials compared to the general cost of living as seen in the Consumer Price Index:
SXU Library Allocations and Expenditures
Expenditures by LC (subject range) FY2016
The majority of our budget is applied to Interdisciplinary tools such as:
Additional dollars are spent on supplementary packages in high priority (curriculum support) areas:
We also spend funds on supporting tools:
New tools:
Cancelled tools:
TOTAL = $128,000 (FY17=37k, FY18=29k, FY20=43k) + 40k books
Books (approx. 650) were purchased in the following disciplines in 2019:
153 literature (39 latinx)
110 political science
60 art
52 education
41 Juvenile
34 music
32 gender
30 psych
24 business
19 religion
18 nursing
17 history
17 African American studies
14 criminal justice
13 math
9 biology
4 anthropology
4 science (general)
2 computer science
2 physics
Annual allocations for monographs:
FY12 $70,062
FY13 $52,998
FY14 $41,703
FY15 $26,000
FY16 $25,366
FY17 $25,360
FY18 $22,860
FY19 $20,862
FY20 $20,000 (est.)
The library is near the end of a multi-phase weeding and relocation project. This page will explain the basic plan and provide a status update.
Intention: To remove obsolete material, making space for new materials and for the return of valuable but suppressed material from the Offsite Shelving facility.
Process:
Phase 1: The Main Stacks
Each subject librarian reviewed materials in our main stacks in their subject areas ... considering factors such as the CREW Method concerning currency, historical importance, redundancy, special subject concerns, CARLI consortial holdings, curriculum emphases, and research concentrations. Potential withdrawals from the main stacks were identified, and when warranted, title lists were shared with the faculty for review. Materials were weeded and space was created for new materials and for the return of selected materials from the Offsite Shelving facility.
Phase II: The Offsite Shelving Materials
We reviewed the materials housed in the Offsite Shelving facility...using similar criteria to above...in order determine which items should be (1) returned to the main stacks, (2) left in Offsite Shelving, or (3) withdrawn from the collection. Potential withdrawal titles that might have significant impact were shared with appropriate faculty. Material was weeded and/or returned to the Main Stacks.
STATUS: We have completed most of the collection review. The remaining materials in the Offsite Shelving facility that still need to be reviewed are: Math books, Philosophy/Religion books, and selected Language and Literature sets where decisions were postponed or that were originally returned to OSS.
Gold Rush tool ... find where journals are indexed.
Example of how few titles in a package are used, and yet we subsidize them, plus cover annual inflation.
See our page containing library statistics about the physical and virtual collections and services.
See our page with detailed historical use patterns.