Activities of Ball State University’s All-Campus Library Committee, 2006-2007

Ball State University’s all-campus Library Committee is a standing committee of Faculty Council. This committee provides an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to discuss issues and concerns about library and information services that are of interest to the Ball State University community.

The membership of the Library committee consists of 14 persons, as follows:
· Seven faculty members, one from each academic college, appointed by the Faculty Council for two-year terms
· One undergraduate and one graduate student, each appointed by the Student Government Association
· Two professional personnel with primary appointment in different professional areas, each appointed by University Council for staggered two-year terms
· One member from the Graduate Education Committee, for a one-year term
· One member appointed by the Undergraduate Education Committee, for a one-year term
· The Dean of University Libraries, ex officio or a designee

The current members of the Library Committee are
Amy Leahy, Family/Consumer Science
Amy Sheaffer, Undergraduate Education Committee
Angela Tanney, Graduate student
Ashley Johnson, Undergraduate
Carol Friesen, Graduate Education Committee
David Sumner, Journalism
Jeffrey Green, Economics
Keith Cochran, University Libraries
Murray Steib, Music History
Nicole Feldhues, Career Center
Robert R. Pinger, Physiology and Health Science
Susan Tancock, Elementary Education and
Dr. Arthur W. Hafner, Dean of University Libraries, ex officio.

The Library Committee’s officers have been Chairperson Murray Stein, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Music History at the College of Fine Arts, and Secretary Keith H. Cochran, Ph.D., Music Librarian at the University Libraries.

Over the current academic year, the Library Committee met four times: November 16, 2006, December 12, 2006, March 23, 2007, and April 20, 2007. At these meetings, the Library Committee has concentrated on three topics that demonstrate the Committee’s dedicated support of the University Libraries as being second only to the classroom for learning and discovery:
· Augmenting the University Libraries’ acquisitions budget through various fund-raising methods
· Discussion about the University Library’s Guidelines for Replacing Paper Subscriptions with Digital Forma
· Concept that the Libraries’ acquisitions budget should be increased yearly to keep up with inflation and the rising cost of informational materials

At the committee’s April 20, 2007, meeting, the Library Committee elected Professor Robert R. Pinger as Chairperson for the coming academic year, 2007-2008.

For more information, contact Dr. Keith H. Cochran, Ball State University Libraries’ Music Librarian, KCochran@bsu.edu, (765) 285-5065.

This newsletter article first appeared in The Library Insider 5(5): 7; May 2007.