Vermont State University Libraries and Sports

Submitted by SaveOurLibrariesVSU t3_11b7s5o in vermont

Hi all, by now most of you probably know about the recent controversy concerning Vermont State University's "repurposing" of its libraries. I'm a student from the Castleton campus, formerly Castleton University. I'm one of the people involved in the protests/demonstrations, and my fellow students and I, along with faculty, staff and community members from all campuses, have been fighting to gain the support of Vermont legislature in putting a stop to this. Lt. Governor David Zuckerman is standing with us, as are a couple other lawmakers. However, they can only do so much. The governor himself holds the most sway, but any legislative support secured is a win. We need Vermonters to contact legislators and the governor's office and civilly state their opposition to this plan.

To clarify--the Vermont State University administration announced on February 8th that all campuses would be transitioning to digital-only libraries. All books, with the exception of undefined "special collections", would be removed, library staff positions terminated, and the buildings repurposed as "study spaces". This was supposedly based on a survey sent out during finals week of the previous semester, of which only ten percent of the student body responded. Then, when administrators were met with opposition, they claimed it was a matter of financial necessity, but refused to show data comparing the cost of a digital transition to the current upkeep of physical books. In fact, they provide no clear answers to direct questions, and have yet to detail the specifics of this transition, beyond repeating the intent to cut costs and expand accessibility. (Both points have been repeatedly challenged on multiple fronts, to no avail.)

To be clear, no one is against expanding digital services. We are against the removal of physical books and resources from our libraries, which many of us rely on for academic success. We are against the termination of valuable library staff, and the current plan to have only one librarian per campus. We take issue with the utter lack of transparency, misrepresented facts, political sidestepping, and outright dismissal of campus and community concerns.

Please, reach out to your representatives, to the Senate Committee of Institutions, the Committee of Education, and most of all to Governor Scott, who as a member of the Vermont colleges' Board of Trustees, has not attended a single meeting, and has yet to address the VSU's decision.

"What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it feels about education." --Harold Howe, former US Commissioner of Education.

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nixxon t1_j9whslc wrote

Expanding "digital services" is just going to end up being more expensive than having books you can keep. They set limits on how long the library "owns" access to the books -- such utter bullshit.

Definitely complain to those in power to change this, but also do some reading on open access journals and books which I'm hoping will take off. Cut out the publishing companies and just share knowledge.

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Jun1p3rsm0m t1_ja05btn wrote

Plus, most texts aren’t even available in digital editions. The librarians that spoke on Vermont Edition explained this, as well as how expensive it would be to lease digital texts. Publishers don’t let you purchase them, they are leased. And 10x more expensive if purchased by an institution compared to the same text on amazon. I might not be saying it exactly right, but it was a really fascinating show.

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9yjegb wrote

We'll look into that, thanks! And yes, it's been pointed out to admins multiple times that maintaining a digital catalogue will be a much more expensive venture than maintaining our physical book collection. They only say it's the "way of the future".

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birdable t1_j9zp4aw wrote

I have yet to see a proposal from either side of the political spectrum that would save VSC from failing. Truth is they need money… a shit load of money. If it wasn’t libraries and sports it would be janitors and cafeteria staff - and people would be just as riled up.

I don’t want to sound rude but I just think there’s larger issues at play here. I’m all for doing whatever it takes to keep the libraries and staff but what will it be next?

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9zva27 wrote

You raise an important point and don't sound rude at all.

Tl;Dr: We know we're broke, we're trying to find alternatives to cutting costs, but the administration refuses to cooperate and says the decision is final.

We are very aware of the financial troubles that lead to this. We also know that the current proposal will not only be far more expensive to institute, but cause a significant drop in enrollment. Many students are already transferring. We know the university needs to cut costs, but the administration's current approach is short-sighted and ill-conceived. We are trying to find alternatives, and to that end have requested the administration be transparent with the data they're basing the decision on. They have thus far refused. The only thing they're willing to share is that VSU has a 25 million dollar deficit, and there is an expectation that the colleges save 5 million a year in costs for five years. But they won't show us the exact numbers indicating the amount of money saved by repurposing the libraries and reducing library staff to a skeleton crew, or how much the exact cost of a digital transition will be compared to maintaining the current physical libraries.

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birdable t1_j9zzt66 wrote

I completely understand where you all are coming from. I’m sorry students and staff are put into this position. As a former CCV student I want nothing more than to see VSC succeed. I have to think the lack of transparency is because the outlook behind closed doors is worse than the public knows right now. It’s a hard balance between being transparent and keeping the student applications rolling in.

As a shot in the dark, may I suggest using this “final straw” as a platform to advocate for a massive investment in the VSC endowment…. Like 500m or more. Would bring in steady income to stabilize current campuses and provide some money for future investment.

Pouring political clout into a big (well thought out) investment once seems better than running to tax payers every two years for stopgap funding every time they want to cut back on libraries, janitors, cafeteria staff or staff benefits.

Sadly with Phil Scott in office I don’t think any of it is possible :(

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VermontRox t1_j9xd2p3 wrote

UVM, like the other state colleges, receives taxpayer money. Why are we not talking about the same measures there? Surely they don’t need to be in the NCAA, right?

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PCPToad83 t1_j9xngmk wrote

VSC receives only 13% of its funding from taxpayer money

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VermontRox t1_j9yyrui wrote

I suspect UVM gets even less, but my point is this: If VSC has to cut back, why doesn’t UVM? Thanks.

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9ysldg wrote

Can you tell me where you got that statistic? We're trying to amass as much relevant data as we can.

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VermontRox t1_j9yyzd0 wrote

This is not THE statistic, but it is a statistic: https://www.uvm.edu/news/story/state-adds-10-million-uvm-appropriation

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Jun1p3rsm0m t1_ja05omb wrote

Bernie usually has those stats on the top of his head. I worked at what used to be JSC several years ago, and Bernie spoke at a student rally there. He just rattled off the stats.

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VermontRox t1_ja3wnm6 wrote

Please share where you got this information. Many thanks.

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patsboston t1_j9zas1c wrote

UVM leaving the NCAA would hurt donations. They would never do that.

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VermontRox t1_ja3umm4 wrote

Yes, leaving the NCAA would hurt both UVM and the other state colleges. So why are they doing it only to the state colleges? That’s my point.

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tat2ed13 t1_j9y5yct wrote

I’m guessing this will be considered an unpopular opinion but if the school is no longer offering the services you want why not change schools?

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9yiplw wrote

No, it's a good point. Many students are transferring, but just as many don't have that option, and their educational success is going to be severely impacted by this move. It's for those students we're fighting this.

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funky_ass_flea_bass t1_j9zgmp7 wrote

I think that’s easier said than done for a lot of folks. Aside from UVM these are the only public colleges in the state. Even with how poorly we fund these public colleges, they are still the cheapest/most convenient option for many Vermont residents.

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9zxlyk wrote

Exactly so. Some of the people I've spoken to hate everything that's happening but are tied to VSU through financial aid or residency-based scholarships, or just can't afford the extra costs of attending school out of state.

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Bernthewalldown t1_j9zuq6a wrote

Vermont needs to dump millions into the VSU system, to make it competitive with other state’s state-school systems, or else this VSU move was just to watch a bunch of schools slowly die under one flag.

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9zwh1l wrote

I agree, they say they have to consider how they attract future students (I mean, so much for us current students, but whatever). I won't pretend I know how money moves around at the state levels, but surely prioritizing funding public universities, and making improvements to draw in both local and out-of-state students, not to mention international, should be an obvious economical move? Whereas right now, current students are transferring, future students are looking elsewhere, and communities who benefit from college resources and income are facing serious economic consequences.

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Bernthewalldown t1_j9zyga9 wrote

I cannot agree more about how vital Vermont’s state university system is to it’s success and it’s prosperity. Like you said, we are currently seeing the harsh realities of not supporting it, and those consequences could take generations to fix if they collapse due to neglect. Vermont needs to prioritize this, along with affordable housing, if we are ever to see Vermont be what we all know it can be.

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Jun1p3rsm0m t1_ja04nsm wrote

VPR Vermont Edition did a segment on this issue earlier in the week. If you didn’t hear it, check it out. A really good perspective from several professional librarians. A college system without a library! Insane idea.

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joeydokes t1_j9ypmp5 wrote

VSU is transitioning to become U Phoenix, Vermont edition. It's sad, but necessary. Both because of local ground truth and the economic downsizing taking place across the country; specially the FAANGS

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SaveOurLibrariesVSU OP t1_j9zyg16 wrote

I hope it doesn't come to that. Particularly in a rural state notorious for its limited internet access. (Typing this from a house in the hills, where we only got actually working internet service a couple years ago. Before that, we relied on, y'know, libraries.)

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joeydokes t1_ja02a23 wrote

u/SaveOurLibrariesVSU is a noble but fruitless cause (IMO)

I love libraries, stacks filled with books, the value of librarians to society writ-large. I loathe what's being perpetuated on them, by ignorance and mean-spirit, in school boards across the nation.

That said, and noting that library closings are unrelated to censorship, they don't serve the purpose they once used to. Yes, the price of digitizing is not cheap; yes, some rarer books will be harder to come by; yes, it's sad to see this sorry decline.

But all the sentiments aren't going to change the reality that most learning can be done in front of a screen or that the printed page is a yesterday phenom. Hopefully, this cuts down the price of 'textbooks' and overall cost of an education as well.

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joeydokes t1_ja00uz3 wrote

VT and ME are the 2 poorest and least populated States in NE.

Spouse is 20yrs in VSC (now VSU) academic support. It's heartbreaking to see the impact, on students and staff alike, happening in response to hard ground truths. The decline has been long and steady. VT has more 1st gen students than most anywhere in the north; State support for higher ed is paltry. K-12 is facing class shrinkage and higher costs, while depending on federal monies which is increasingly shifting to supporting/vouchering charter and privatized/religious education.

Meanwhile, since 2020 most students have gotten jiggy with the online world. Many/most will admit they don't go to libraries for the books. Newer genZ and beyond will be moreso.

To make matters worse, all the funding that goes into K-12 (including your edu taxes) does little more than make someplace else more literate; considering over 50% leave upon graduation.

And I doubt things will improve until such time as there are more jobs paying livable wages for new grads looking to make a life here; which flies in the face of rural VT being a mostly boring place to grow up or be single in (e.g. why they left in the 1st place). Specially under the mounting pressure of gentrification, high COL, sparse housing and rising wealth inequality.

I don't envy the Chancellors office or their board facing these tough calls, regardless of the politics or finances behind it.

The 'conjoining' of Johnson and Lyndonville into NVU tried to put a band-aid on a bullet wound. The 'new' president resulted in overworked over-commuted faculty and staff and shifted many of the the desirable majors from J to L; despite Lyndonville having a much poorer track record than Johnson.

To me, this is an indicator that the Johnson campus is on the chopping block; mostly by virtue of its campus being too far off the beaten track. That ultimately VSU will be VTC, Castleton and Lyndonville based, but virtualized throughout the State.

RE: internet - maybe starlink will help (but F EL just the same)

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elpvtam t1_ja30xza wrote

One alternative. Close Lyndon and Johnson campuses. VSC is incredibly important but saving it will require drastic action. Closing campuses made a lot of sense imo but was very unpopular. There will have to be unpopular decisions made

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