So I see a notice that UC Berkeley is closing three libraries and I
became a bit concerned about the Mark Twain Project. They are
reportedly shuttering the Anthropology, Physics-Astronomy, and
Mathematics Statistics libraries. Once budget cutters start, they
seldom stop... Also, it's important to maintain a sports program over
any academic efforts. From a 2020 report: "Cal's Justin Wilcox is the
seventh-highest paid coach in the Pac-12 this season with a total pay of
$3,276,248."
From their Scholarly Resources: 2022-24 Budget Reduction Plan
Due to anextremely challenging budget situation
<https://news.lib.berkeley.edu/2022-23-services>the Library must reduce
its collections budget by $1.7 million over the next two years. Added to
our recent reductions, this will bring the total collections budget
reduction to $4.425 million since 2016 – an approximately 35% reduction
of campus, state, and unrestricted funding for collections. In the
current 2022-23 fiscal year, an initial $850,000 will be cut from
selectors’ discretionary allocations which are used for print and
digital books, media, datasets, and the like. In the following year, the
remaining cut of $850,000 will come from a reduction in recurring annual
costs such as subscription databases, journal subscriptions, ebook
packages, and journal packages.
The Mark Twain Project is not mentioned in any of this, for what it's
worth...
So it goes...
--
/Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/
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