Are budget limitations real? Perspective, perceptions, and a plan

The purpose of the paper is to examine how one might proactively trim materials spending.

Provides a viewpoint on how one might proactively trim materials spending.

Faced with a statewide budget reduction of 90 percent, the author found numerous microform and print subscriptions to cancel. Clearly priorities exist, and if we are able to acknowledge and codify them, perhaps we can save money even in years with no budget crisis. A list of central principles and functions might also make weeding and cooperative collection development easier.

The idea of a collection management plan is not new, of course, but listing some concrete benefits underscores its importance.