Tough data-driven decisions and radical thinking: how Middlesbrough College’s LRC survived austerity

• Main Author: Tracey Totty
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ubiquity Press 2019-04-01
• Series: Insights: The UKSG Journal
• Subjects: Budget reductions; e-resources; suppliers; FE libraries; data-driven; acquisitions
• Online Access: https://insights.uksg.org/articles/462

When other libraries had their budgets cut, Middlesbrough College’s Learning Resources Centre (LRC) enjoyed a stable (yet not increasing) budget with minor cuts from 2015–2017. For 2017–2018, the LRC was required to save 50% of its non-pay budget. The cuts were not unexpected, but so much in one go was a severe shock. As a matter of good practice, we were already making data-driven decisions for all our resources and were trying to get the best deals we could. It was time for consolidation, tougher decisions and, possibly, some radical thinking. At the beginning of 2017 this process started, and is now reaping rewards. This article will set out how decisions on making the necessary budget cuts were made, what was done to make the reduced budget go further (whilst maintaining the high quality of services) and the results of the exercise. The author presented this work at the UKSG E-resources for Further Education event in November 2018.