Library Restructuring at Harvard

Following Restructuring, Libraries Report Large Savings

Karl M. Aspelund | November 2, 2015

Harvard’s library system has reduced spending by $25 million in aggregate since 2009, largely due to a multi-year restructuring effort completed in 2012, according to an update distributed to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences prior to its meeting on Tuesday.
A working group developed a savings benchmark of $20 million in 2009 and 2010 based on projections about efficiency gains and reducing duplications in collections. That group crafted goals for the integration of the University’s 73 libraries into a single Harvard Library based on recommendations from a 2009 report from the task force on University libraries. The savings are calculated relative to the 2009 budget inflated to current dollars, according to the update obtained by The Crimson.

Harvard Widener Library. Source: http://www.leekennedy.com/project/harvard-university-widener-library-renovations/

<more at http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/11/2/fas-harvard-libary-update/; related links: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/10/5/libraries-settle-amid-changes/?page=single (Dust Settles As Library Changes. October 5, 2012) and http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/7/21/library-lays-off-six/ (Library Lays Off Six Workers, After Months of Worry. July 21, 2012)>