FOR RELEASE: IMMEDIATE DATE: 2/21/03

CONTACT: EMILY SILVERMAN, (413) 545-0995

FACULTY SENATE RESEARCH LIBRARY COUNCIL
RECOMMENDS
CONSOLIDATION OF CAMPUS SCIENCE LIBRARIES

     Amherst, Mass. - The Faculty Senate Research Library Council met on February 21, 2003, to discuss recommendations to combine the two campus science libraries. A subcommittee of the Council, the Science Libraries Working Group, drafted the recommendations, which are part of its January 30, 2003, report, "The Future of the Science and Engineering Libraries." The full report, including its recommendations on digital technologies and physical facilities for the science libraries, is available on the Library's web site (http://www.library.umass.edu).

     The Council voted 9-0 to approve the report and to support the consolidation and reorganization of the Biological Sciences Library and the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library into a single Integrated Sciences and Engineering Library. The report states that the best site for the integrated library is the space currently occupied by the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library in Lederle lowrise.

     The working group conducted a campus-wide survey about the science libraries in December. The survey results, along with the full report of the Science Libraries Working Group, are available on the Library web site.

     For more information, contact William Bemis, chair, Research Library Council (wbemis@bio.umass.edu, 545-2902).