Library Addition Receives
Boost from Senate Vote

At its meeting of May 31, a united Faculty Legislature supported moving a proposed addition to Davidson Library up in priority on the campus's capital projects list. The addition had been on the planning list for more than a decade and never risen above fifth place, according to the resolution that passed.

By a unanimous vote UCSB's Academic Senate said it "strongly supports the advancement of the library addition project on UCSB's five-year plan without further delay or diminution of its size and scope."

The resolution, introduced by Sarah Cline, chair of the Senate Library Committee, pointed out that the library's standing, as ranked by the Association of Research Libraries, had dropped from 47th in 1989 to 80th in 2000. The discussion recognized, Cline said, "that you cannot remain a Research 1 [campus] without putting money into the library."

"No one spoke against the resolution," said Cline, and many departments, major committees, and individual faculty members expressed support. "There are plenty of people to credit" for moving this along, she said, and mentioned geologist Bruce Tiffney, her predecessor as chair of the library committee, University Librarian Sarah Pritchard, biologist and Graduate Council Chair Josh Schimel, Senate Chair Richard Watts, and Vice Chair Walter Yuen.

Though a site behind the present library complex is under consideration for the addition, Cline noted that "concrete plans still need to be made when the library moves further up the list." Resources are far from assured, but the vote sends a message, she said, that the Senate is concerned about the library's future.