Eagle University Library

| Eagle University |

Memo

To: | Chair of the Budget Committee |

From: | Nicholas Vaccarella |

Date: | June 3, 2014 |

Re: | Library Donations Department Budget Increase Request |

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Background and Key Indicators

The University Library has approached the Budget Committee with a request for a $5,000 departmental budget increase for the procurement of part-time students to assist with the intake and processing of book donations. This memo is being written in response to the Committee’s denial of these funds in general and the rationale for that denial more specifically. The reasoning behind our request has already been laid out by our head librarian, Asenath James, but we will briefly review the situation which has led up to this request for context.

In order for the library to positively contribute to the academic reputation and research quality of our institution it must run both effectively and efficiently. One measure of the library’s operations is its ability to grow its current holdings. It is believed that both the quality and the quantity of the library’s current collection have attracted students for specialized graduate study. It is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that this interest has translated into increased enrollment, better research quality, and – perhaps – greater charitable giving.

Due to budgetary constraints donations account for a large portion of the library’s new acquisitions. Key indicators of the performance of our donations department include the effective solicitation of book donations, the efficient processing of those donations, and the capacity to take in all of the books offered to us that have value. In addition, the intake process should be performed with minimal backlog.

The Problem

As a result of its constraints, the donations department is currently failing to meet a number of the key performance indicators described above. First, the graduate assistant assigned to donations is currently...