Sponsors
Motion
Section I
1.1 WHEREAS the University of Oregon Senate recognizes that the university's libraries are indispensable to the scholarly mission of the University of Oregon and vital to maintaining a thriving academic community; and
1.2 WHEREAS, during the 2025 calendar year, the University of Oregon Libraries sustained cuts including a reduction of more than $600,000 dollars in the collections budget, the loss of 3 filled officer of administration positions and 1 vacant classified staff position, and layoff announcements for 4 career faculty librarian positions – the latter of which represent one-fifth of all career faculty layoff announcements across the UO in 2025; and
1.3 WHEREAS funding reductions such as these, with effects including personnel cuts and reductions to services and scholarly collections, create negative impacts on teaching, learning, research, and scholarship at UO, as exemplified by statements from seven faculty members before the The University of Oregon Senate on March 11, 2026; and
1.4 WHEREAS UO tenure- and non-tenure-related faculty serving inside and outside the libraries share concerns regarding current and future instability in the UO Libraries budget; and
1.5 WHEREAS it is the duty of the University Senate to defend the conditions necessary for the flourishing of higher education.
Section II
2.1 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the UO Senate calls on the university administration to demonstrate recognition of the essential role of the libraries in the UO’s academic mission by avoiding cuts to the libraries budget resulting in reductions to library personnel, services, and collections wherever possible, and ensuring that when such reductions are unavoidable that they are not enacted disproportionately in relation to the UO as a whole; and
2.2 THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the UO Senate calls on the university administration to explore all available alternatives — including administrative consolidation and budget reallocation — before any future reductions to the libraries budget; and
2.3 THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the UO Senate calls on the university administration to disclose to the University of Oregon Senate Budget Committee and Library Committee the metrics, data, and criteria used to make decisions about library finances, in a manner which will allow the Senate, as well as other UO faculty, staff, and the broader university community, to provide comment in advance of decisions; and
2.4 THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that in the case that the university administration pursues reductions to the libraries budget, that these changes are subject to procedures for collaborative input for significant academic changes at the University of Oregon (US25/26-16) to the greatest degree possible based upon the requirements to initiate procedures therein.