The University of Missouri library staff is asking faculty for help prioritizing journals and journal subscription packages.

Ann Riley, acting MU Libraries director, said consulting with faculty is important to the library, especially as it looks to renew subscriptions to�journals researchers use.

�We do have significant budget challenges ahead,� Riley told faculty Thursday. �We�re hoping through a combination of all sorts of activities to get additional funding that we won�t have to major cuts in our journals.�

Riley and Rabia Gregory, an associate professor and a library committee chairwoman, visited MU�s Faculty Council on Thursday. In November, students voted down a staggered library fee that, once fully implemented, would have added $13 million to the MU Libraries budget.

The library will not know if it needs to make cuts until it knows what its budget will look like for next school year, Riley said. The library is increasing its advancement and development efforts, she said.

Gregory said it�s likely the library will have to make budget cuts.

�I would be very surprised ��if unless a new funding sources comes through for the library ��if in the next few years there is not going to have to be some major re-prioritizing of what library money is going to.�

The libraries� budget challenges include decreased staff, higher costs for materials and increased costs for largely used electronic resources, Riley said. Currently, MU Libraries spends about $8 million on books and journals.�

Riley gave faculty some statistics about how many use the library: there are more than 100,000 items circulated each year, more than 3 million views of online items and 1.5 million total library visits.

After hearing updates on the library, the Faculty Council discussed a proposal that asks administrators to have an independent consultant examine the UM System�s organizational structure, the relationship between MU and the UM System and a consolidation of the MU chancellor�s and UM System president�s office. You can read more about that resolution here. The council will vote next month.

Interim MU Chancellor Hank Foley will visit the Faculty Council on Feb. 25 to answer questions. Foley will give the chancellor�s State of the University address Wednesday afternoon at Stotler Lounge, located in room 103 Memorial Union North.