The budget request, if approved by Wyoming Legislature, would join the funds from a 2009 tuition increase estimated to add $2.7 million to the library for upgrades. The tuition was increased for two years specifically to add resources to the library in hopes of obtaining membership into two prestigious library organizations.
Coe Library is currently preparing to apply for membership to the Greater Western Library Association, an elite organization which vets libraries based on collection budget, number of volumes and number of staff.
The UW library applied for membership in 2009 and was denied.
Further in the future, the library staff plans to apply for membership into the Association of Research Libraries, which is a more difficult designation to obtain than the GWLA.
ARL membership will put UW into a ranking system with institutions like University of Washington (ranked 20th) and Colorado State University (ranked 103rd.)
“Currently the library is not designated as a research library. We are a research institution and we would like to have the library to match,” Associate Dean of Libraries, Lori J. Phillips, said.
The upgrade will include professional and research journals, published books, magazine subscriptions and membership to electronic databases. Phillips said faculty and graduate students use libraries as a main way to evaluate prospective institutions. She said candidates interviewing for faculty positions often stop in at the library to see if they have resources to support their research.
“We are trying to build our collections up in a way that aids the university’s areas of emphasis. You can’t say Wyoming without saying ‘energy.’ The School of Energy is very key,” Phillips said.
Other areas of emphasis include natural resources, range science, technology, life sciences and education.
Acquisition of more resources and materials is a long-term process. The library created a goal a year ago to increase book collection by 24,000 to 60,000 annually. In 2011 alone, over 37,035 volumes were added to the collection and the collection budget increased by $3.3 million.
“Our library right now, in football terms, is like Division III and we are working to be Division II,” Phillips said.
