To the UC Davis Community:

As part of the Library's efforts to be a collaborative, proactive, nimble, and flexible 21st Century academic library we have begun planning to restructure the UC Davis sciences libraries (i.e., the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library, the Biological/Agricultural Sciences and Map Services Reference Department, Carlson Health Sciences Library, and Blaisdell Medical Library). (See ORMP's budget analysis for the library (http://budget.ucdavis.edu/budget-planning/documents/2009-10/Library%2009-10%20Budget%20Reduction%20Plan%20Analysis%20FINAL%20081709.pdf)PDF.) The goal is to create economies of operation by vacating the Physical Sciences Library building, which has a relatively high cost of operation for its current level of use, and then reorganize into two sciences library units Physical Sciences and Engineering Library; and Health, Agriculture, and Life Sciences Library. These reorganized library units will be housed in three buildings rather than four.

This restructuring of library services has three goals:

1. Design efficient library services to meet the needs of academic and administrative units by leveraging current interdisciplinary approaches to research, teaching, learning, patient care, and community service
2. Develop collections to meet the increasing need for electronic formats while continuing to purchase print books and journals, minimize the duplication of content and formats, and acquire unique content generated by UC faculty, staff, and students as well as other scholars and researchers worldwide.
3. Create a sustainable funding model to cover the rising costs of UC-wide licenses for electronic content and maintain the unique collections for specialized academic programs, such as agriculture, environment, ecology, and veterinary medicine.

The conceptual plan at this early stage is for the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library (i.e., collections and staff) to be centered in the Shields Library building and for Health, Agricultural, and Life Sciences Library to be located in the Carlson Health Sciences Library building in Davis and the Blaisdell Medical Library building in Sacramento. However, not all biological and agricultural sciences print books and journals would be relocated from the Shields Library building. Librarians are seeking input prior to making decisions about the relocation of print materials. Faculty consultation will be sought concerning criteria for what materials remain in the Shields building and what will be relocated to the Carlson Health Sciences Library building or the Northern Regional Storage Facility (NRLF). Draft criteria developed through consultation will be made available for comment. Librarians will also seek faculty input to decide which subjects with print formats should stay together—and where—because of programmatic synergies that are tied to the campus locations of academic programs. This consultation will take place in college/school department meetings, library conducted focus groups, individual consultations, online surveys, and other meetings. Librarians will seek student input to identify student expectations regarding how they use library facilities through library-conducted focus groups with key student organizations, online surveys, and individual conversations

Relocation of print material will be done in conjunction with the continuing cancellation of print journals in favor of electronic, which has been ongoing for several years. Budget reductions and ongoing price increases from scientific publishers do not enable the library to continue subscribing to both print and online journals.

To address remaining concerns that may arise about access to materials at any library building, we are planning a book delivery service between its buildings. Also, we plan to offer an electronic document delivery service for print journal articles and book chapters.

Finally, the Office of Resource Management and Planning will provide analytical support for the physical space planning aspects of the restructuring. There are no preconceived ideas about reuse of the Physical Sciences Library building; ORMP will consult broadly and consider many factors (e.g., programmatic objectives, proximity, suitability of the facility, etc.) before developing recommendations for reuse of the Physical Sciences Library building and other physical space that may be involved in this restructuring.

If you have additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us. Faculty, staff, and student input on the issues associated with the restructuring of the sciences libraries is extremely important, so that we can continue to provide the best service possible to the UC Davis community.