It has recently come to our attention that the library is planning massive restructuring, including consolidating library units into a few information “hubs.” Alongside “aggressive digitization,” this process includes making more study space by getting rid of books: by sending them to the annex, selling them, or maintaining only a few copies circulating among peer institutions in “collective collections.” We are, of course, not against digitization, but it should not occur at the price of getting rid of books! Protecting and expanding collections is crucial for the University, as is the physical presence of books on campus, especially for the humanities where they are the equivalent of “labs.” Scholars need books - old and new, popular and untouched for decades, duplicates and unique copies! At the beginning of the month, the Cornell Daily Sun ran an article about 95,000 books being sold without any open debate: http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2009/11/04/cut-costs-library-unloads-95000-volume-duplicative-collection To the extent that the role of the library staff and management is to support faculty and students in their research (in ALL disciplines), it seems unreasonable that the former have almost exclusive power over any kind of restructuring. We, the undersigned, while understanding that the library must reduce its budget, feel that the way in which these decisions are being made, with little to no faculty or student involvement, is unacceptable. It is crucial that FACULTY and STUDENTS be profoundly involved in these decisions. (For more information on the "new library model," please see the Libraries Task Force Report Summary: http://www.cornell.edu/reimagining/docs/library-summary-1109.pdf)

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