Originally Posted 11/o7/2013
This year we have finally felt the budget crunch. There has been limitations put on book purchases with monies from 
the school district. In June, we were limited to a $2000.00 purchase. This fall, we are limited to nonfiction print purchases that must be aligned to our curriculum and the areas that show the most need for improvement from our standardize test scores. What’s the problem with that challenge, you say? Aren’t we suppose to align our selection for purchase with curriculum need? Why am I harping about this? My main beef is that with a one-sided purchase such as this, it will take away the opportunity to refresh our fiction collection and from what I understand, this opportunity to refresh might be a year from now, making us 1 1/2 years behind on current titles. Needless to say, you can tell I’m a fiction hound. I can’t fathom my library not even having the opportunity to have the new award winners that are to be announced this coming January 2014. One whole year and a half behind on titles with the other two thirds of our budget going directly to standard tests alignment only…and guess what? If it was a productive purchase in which the faculty is chomping at the bits to get ahold of, I would be jumping for pure joy. Instead, my faculty and staff in science, where the need is required, has said they need digital formats for everything because they prefer to conduct all of their research online. As an advocate for my library and staff, I think I need to support what my staff is relating to me…less print and more eReference…in particular simultaneous multi-access ebooks. I would also like to stretch my search out to aligning all nonfiction with fiction and poetry with a heavy slant towards STEM subjects. This includes the critical need areas, and still allows for a more rounded selection.
