1. Why does the library have to cancel resources in fiscal year 2025?

Much of higher education is operating in resource-constrained environments. This affects all aspects of higher education, including libraries. Auraria Library was tasked with a 4% reduction in fiscal year (FY) 2024 and an additional 2.6% reduction in FY 2025. Reductions to the total Library budget are shared by all three institutions. All institutions that financially support Auraria Library (University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver), Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), and Community College of Denver (CCD)) have seen a decrease in enrollment in recent years which affects budgets. Auraria Library's priority was to preserve faculty and staff positions. With one-third of the library's budget delegated to learning materials (LM), learning materials would need to be cut. When libraries experience budget cuts, it’s very common for the collections budget to be cut.

2. Will all nonrenewed resources be unavailable from the start of the fiscal year, on July 1, 2024?

Non-renewed resources may still be available during part of FY25 depending on their subscription period. Please see (link to webpage of cancellations) for subscription end dates.

3. How much did the library have to cut from learning materials (LM)?

In FY 24 $241,835 was cut from the learning materials (LM) budget and in FY 25 $266,956 would be cut. This totaled $508,791 (13.9% of the fiscal year (FY) 2023 learning materials budget). You can see details about the Auraria Library reductions on CU Denver’s Phase 1 and Phase 2 Strategic Budget Initiative webpages.

4. How did you determine which resources would be cancelled?

Library faculty and staff spent months gathering data about library resources to determine which resources might be cut in FY 2025. Data reviewed includes:

• Relevancy to campus needs 
• Accreditation requirements
• Relevancy to library’s mission to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
• Prioritization of full-text resources over indexes
• Subject
• Cost
• Price history
• Usage
• Cost-per-use (CPU)
• Duplication of content
• Vendor ethics
• Percentage of content indexed in Start My Research (the library’s discovery system)
• Faculty, staff, and student feedback

We looked at cost-per-use for the most recent year, average of most recent 3 years, average of most recent 5 years, and average all time. We marked any CPU as high if it was more than $15; most high CPUs were between $15 and $35 but a few were over $100.

We first created a potential cancellations list mainly based on quantitative feedback. We then gathered feedback from campus constituents to determine which of those resources would ultimately be cancelled. The number of resources cancelled depended upon the individual cost of each resource and feedback we received.

5. I need access to something that was cancelled. How can I get that?

Content from many of the cancelled resources will still be available from other libraries via Interlibrary Loan or Prospector. Most articles arrive within 1-2 business days. Physical items typically take a week to arrive at Auraria Library for in-state loans and 2-6 weeks if from out-of-state. Prospector is faster for print materials (3-7 days estimated delivery), so please try it first. If you don’t see what you need, please visit our Ask Us page for help finding alternative access to resources.

6. Can we work with other University of Colorado (CU) libraries to provide access to the resources?

Auraria Library partners extensively with other CU libraries as well as the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries to provide access to resources that Auraria would not be able to afford alone. University of Colorado campus libraries currently have more than fifty collective purchase agreements for journal subscription packages, databases, and eBooks. It is not possible to expand subscription sharing beyond current levels without increasing each library’s expenses, which is not possible in our current resource restrained environment.

Appendix A Current List of CU System Libraries shared subscriptions and databases.pdf 

7. My unit needs access to a particular non-renewed resource—and is willing to help fund it. How might I initiate that discussion and process?

Schools, colleges, and departments can partner with the Auraria Library to help pay for essential resources. The library would create a memorandum of understanding (MOU, also known as a letter of agreement (LOA)) that states the school, college, or department will financially support the purchase of or subscription to a resource. Please email CDL@auraria.edu for more information on how your school, college, or department can contribute.

8. You are not renewing 42 resources. How many resources does the Auraria Library currently have?

The Library collections include approximately 500,000 print books, 1,600,000 eBooks, 200,000 online journals, and over 200 databases.