Cornell University Library Staff Web

Libraries are charged for plumbing, for carpentry work, for electrical jobs and lots of other stuff by Cornell departments. CUL units, however, have an attitude. In the spirit of public service, they hardly ever charge anyone for anything. Departments reserve rooms for meetings and conferences without charge. Individuals who call expecting to rent laptops or individual study rooms are told they may have them on loan for free. Until CUL recognizes the importance of revenue enhancement, it will have very limited financial independence and not much of the financial flexibility needed to innovate. Strategic planning must feature rather than ignore the issue of revenue generation. Our own history illustrates this point. For decades a succession of CUL administrators have attempted to consolidate CUL administration. All failed because unit opposition was buttressed by independent (of central administration) revenue streams. What worked for the units in the past will work for the whole of CUL. I hope we are not bashful about thinking in these terms and will remember to include revenue generation in our strategic planning.