Make Your Library a Strategic Partner, not Just a Cost Center
You won't get an increased budget because you're essential. You'll get an increased budget because the administration knows that increasing your budget will help the university achieve its strategic goals.
Some years ago I was in a meeting with Susan Gibbons, the brilliant former university librarian at Yale (and current chief of staff to the president and Vice President for Collections). During the discussion, she said something that has stuck with me and that I have quoted many times since – it encapsulates a fundamentally important insight for academic libraries. I’m paraphrasing, because her exact words are long lost from my decreasingly reliable memory, but it was like this:
If you want your library to get strong and consistent support from the university, make sure that you position the library as an essential strategic partner rather than just another expensive piece of infrastructure.
Let’s take a moment to unpack the significance of this insight.