Sobering.

“With so many US academic libraries facing cuts, some might be tempted to assume that the sector is bottoming out and will soon recover. To the contrary, we see risks of a further slide.”
https://t.co/1D3ImjbLZX via @rschon

— Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe (@lisalibrarian) December 9, 2020

The Impacts of COVID-19 on Academic Library Budgets: Fall 2020

not all institutions have targeted their libraries equally. On average, libraries at private institutions fared better than those at public institutions, and those at baccalaureate colleges were most likely to not report a change in their budgets.

In light of present circumstances, publishers and other vendors have several opportunities to support the sector beyond the free access offers and price caps that have been extended. To take one example, in light of staffing austerity measures, there could be renewed attention to reducing the administrative burden faced by librarians to acquire, configure, and maintain products. And, with so many users working remotely, bringing greater seamlessness by reducing authorization, authentication, and other discovery to access barriers in an off-campus environment has never been more important. Libraries and publishers alike are only beginning to understand the impacts of reduced budgets, changes in work locations, and future higher education and funder priorities on strategies for achieving open access.