Dramatic cutbacks for UCD library service

The Tribune can reveal the amount of staff in the UCD Library has declined year on year for more than five years. Consistent cuts in the college budget has seen library staff numbers steadily decline from a high point in 2007 where the library employed 214 employees. Figures for staff dropped to 171 in 2010 and then dramatically down to just 148 in 2012. The number of staff employed as of 2015 in the library was 137, as either contract or casual staff.

The amount UCD spend each year on books, journals and periodicals for the library has also steadily declined over the course of the last five years. The UCD financial statements from the college bursary office (head of Finance) obtained by the Tribune shows in 2010 the college spent €4,792 on new books and renewing journals. This figure however dropped sharply to €3,135 in 2011, and further to €2,442 the following year. The spend from the college over the last three years has recovered slightly, plateauing out at €3,101 for 2015. But the average spend on new purchases for the library and additional journal subscriptions from UCD is still down by over €1,700 compared with figures from five years ago.

UCD lecturer Tobias Theiler, from the School of Politics & International Relations described the cuts to books and services in recent years as “quite catastrophic” for the college.

The effects of these cuts on academic life in UCD Dr Theiler explained were serious “not just for students, but also for lecturers, since many of the books and journals we use were no longer available” he stated. The situation he noted has improved or at least “stabilised” in the last two years. He said he now found “the library [as] being more willing once more to follow up on suggestions for book purchases.”

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