When you go to a public library, you expect to find up-to-date periodicals, a wide range of books old and new, and an increasing amount of information available through the latest digital technologies. That’s especially true of college libraries, which you expect to have the richest and most complete collections. You’d be pretty surprised to find gaps in a college library’s periodical holdings. Or important recent books not on the shelves. Or photographs, musical performances and scores, and artwork unavailable. And you’d be pretty annoyed if the hours of operation were cut back so drastically that you couldn’t even go. Yet such will be the fate of Massachusetts’s public college libraries if the current draconian cuts in state funding continue.
The budget for college-library resources has been chopped 92 percent in two years — through a combination of legislative belt tightening and gubernatorial vetoes. From a high of $14 million in FY2001, funding dropped to $5 million in FY2002 and to $1.2 million in FY2003. The new Romney administration has recommended level funding for FY2004. (A separate line item within the overall higher-education budget, college libraries have been funded separately for decades, the idea being to protect them from school administrators who might apply the money to other purposes. However, this segregation has made the funding more vulnerable to deep cuts in hard times.)
So how does a 92 percent funding cut affect a college library? Consider the Morton Godine Library at Massachusetts College of Art. Founded in 1873 and the nation’s only independent public college of art, MassArt boasts a library of 90,000 books, 130,000 slides, digital images, and many periodicals relating to visual art, crafts, and performance art. The library’s resources — including browsable stacks — are open not just to students but to the general public.
Since 2001, the Godine Library’s annual state allocation has been slashed from $202,000 to $17,000, according to interim librarian Paul Dobbs. Like many small colleges, MassArt has tried to make up some of the difference from overall administrative funds. But as Dobbs points out, the school has also had its state funding cut, so it’s not really able to help much. "We’ve tried to preserve the serials collection as much as possible. You can postpone purchasing books for a few years. It’s not the end of the world." Still, it’s much, much harder to replace periodicals at a later date: "You pay 10 to 20 times more for back issues. Even at that, the library has cut 185 of its subscriptions."
The library has also reduced staff: "We’re down four positions out of 13." Dobbs himself is an archivist; he’s serving as interim director because MassArt hasn’t been able to fill vacancies left by employees who took early retirement.
Wondering what you can do to help? Write Governor Romney and your other elected representatives, of course. Then circle Wednesday May 7 on your calendar. The idea for the MassArt fundraiser that will take place on that date came from senior Ryan Folan. "I was reading Profiles in Courage and I learned that John Kennedy liked to say that the hottest places in Dante’s Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in a time of crisis." Folan had also read Robert Pinsky’s well-received 1994 translation of Dante’s Inferno, which is illustrated with monotypes by local artist Michael Mazur. That gave him the idea to ask Pinsky to read from his translation accompanied by projections of Mazur’s recent series of Inferno etchings (the 41 images have been enlarged and elaborated from the original book illustrations). This fundraiser, it’s hoped, not only will raise $25,000 to buy books but will also initiate a series of annual events dedicated to the Godine, raise public awareness about the library, and encourage the formation of a Friends of the Godine Library Association.
Following the reading, patrons who contribute $100 or more will attend a private reception with Pinsky in the Godine (Mazur will be in Italy and unable to attend.) But you don’t have to be a patron to enjoy the rest of the evening: MassArt’s students will create an adjunct "Inferno in the Courtyard" where some of Boston’s best chefs will donate their services to a barbecue and there’ll be music, student art work, glass-blowing demonstrations, and a molten-iron pour.
Robert Pinsky will read from his translation of Dante’s Inferno on May 7 from 6 to 7 p.m. at Massachusetts College of Art’s Tower Auditorium, 621 Huntington Avenue; from 7 to 8 p.m. there will be a private reception in the college’s Godine Library. Tickets for the reading are $15, $5 for students; tickets to the reading and reception are $100. Call (617) 879-7102 or visit www.massart.edu/pinsky
