Impact of Proposed State Budget for Public and Academic Libraries

Recently the Texas Library Association (TLA) outlined the anticipated impact for libraries statewide if the State’s budget proposal for 2012-13 were to pass in its original form.   According to TLA, the proposed plan would decrease funding for local library aid programs by 99%, and funding for library resource sharing programs by 93%.

For The Texas Medical Center Library, the greatest impact of the proposed cuts would result from the loss of funding for TexShare databases, commercial database subscriptions funded by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) for use by participating public, governmental, academic and medical libraries.  According to TSLAC, the state currently pays $7,042,558 to purchase database resources that are subsequently made available through TexShare (a universally distributed collection) and TexSelect (an additional collection through which we obtain Stat!Ref.).  If participating libraries were to purchase these resources individually, the collective cost would exceed $97,044,000.

The TMC Library currently pays only $5,000 per year for membership in TexShare and  a fee of $16,826.85 for all the databases we receive. If the library had to purchase databases currently provided through TexShare, the cost will be insupportable with our current budget.

A partial list of the databases affected by the proposed budget cuts follows:

• Academic Search Complete
• Alt Health Watch
• Consumer Health Complete
• ERIC
• Health & Wellness Resource Center
• Health Reference Center Academic
• Health Source: Consumer Edition
• Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
• MedicLatina
• Medline (EBSCO)
• Natural & Alternative Treatments
• NetLibrary E-Books Collection Basic Search Interface
• Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
• Science and Technology Collection
• STAT!Ref (Includes ACP Medicine, ACP’s PIER, AHFS Drug Information and numerous medical and nursing texts)
• WorldCat

TexShare also manages a state-wide reciprocal borrowing program for participating academic, medical, community college and public libraries, allowing anyone with a TexShare card to borrow books from participating libraries throughout Texas.

The complete list of TexShare databases we access is here:
http://www.libraryoftexas.org/service-proxy/texshare/?orgid=219

General information about the TexShare program can be found here:  http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/texshare/#

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