Academic libraries in contraction: facts, theories and fancies Available to Purchase

All publicly‐funded libraries have been hard hit by the government's financial policies since the early 1980s; it may be that a measure of austerity is beneficial, in that it encourages creative thought and more effective management. However in the universities, at least, the damage done to services has been significant, white collections have suffered even more. Since inflation in book and periodical prices is not fully reflected in the grants given to libraries, an effective annual reduction of 5—10 per cent is to be expected: unless this trend can be halted university libraries will no longer be able to support worthwhile research, either in the humanities or the sciences.