ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

ACRL’s 1985/86 budget

Last year, when we presented the budget article in C&RL News (December 1984, pp. 599-606), we pointed out the program nature of the budget, and tied each budget item to a specific objective in the ACRL statement of goals and objectives. This year’s budget is again based on our programs. Expenses are incurred and revenue generated in the accomplishment of ACRL’s mission and goals.

The mission of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is to foster the profession of academic librarianship. To accomplish that mission, ACRL has established four goals:

• To contribute to the total professional development of academic and research librarians.

• To improve the service capabilities of academic and research libraries.

• To promote and speak for the interests of academic and research librarianship.

• To promote study and research relevant to academic librarianship.

On pp.605-7 in this issue is a draft of the work of the Strategic Planning Task Force in revising the ACRL mission statement, goals, subgoals, and objectives. Until the process for adopting the final version of the Strategic Plan for the Association is complete, the mission statement and goals mentioned above are those driving ACRL. By this time next year, we will have moved into the new plan, in the meantime, the program activities remain tied to the present goals and objectives in the manner described in last year’s budget article.

Highlights of 1984/85 performance

ACRL’s fund balance again increased (by $74,298) to $472,193 from the September 1984 figure of $397,895. This increase came in the publications area, where advertising, particularly classified fied ads, brought in unexpectedly high revenues; and in early revenues from exhibitors for the Baltimore Conference. Expenses were lower than expected for publications, conferences and workshops, and in membership activities.

ACRL Programs (including CHOICE)

ACRL Summary Budget

Item	Budgeted 1984/85	Actual 1984/85	Budgeted 1985/86
Revenues	$ 1,786,517	$ 1,809,597	$2,190,894
Expenses	1,825,816	1,642,067	2,126,763
Net Income	(39,299)	167,530	64,131
ACRL Balance	426,436	472,193	464,102
Choice	201,310	(9,157)1	63,065

Projections for 1985/86

The ACRL Board has authorized expenditures necessary to begin preparation of the third edition of Books for College Libraries. This will be a deficit operation, with some revenues for royalties appearing at the earliest in the 1987/88 fiscal year. Nevertheless, we anticipate that the ACRL fund balance will remain at $464,102 at the end of the year, a drop of only $8,000 because offsetting revenues will be realized in publications and in membership dues.

Choice

At the beginning of the 1984/85 fiscal year, the ALA auditors deferred a large amount of subscription revenue for future years. This is in accordance with good accounting practices, but it resulted in our beginning the year with a sizeable deficit. At the end of the fiscal year, we had reduced that deficit almost completely, and look forward to having a positive fund balance at the end of the 1985/86 fiscal year. The ACRL Budget and Finance Committee has asked the Executive Director and the Editor and Publisher of Choice to prepare a proposal for building a reserve fund for Choice. The timing is excellent, and such planning is beginning.

ACRL sources of funds 1985/86

The sources of funding for ACRL programs in 1985/86 will be membership dues (22.8%), publications (33.0%), conferences and workshops (35.3%), funded projects (8.3%), and other sources, including the ACRL Jobline (.6%). The total revenue projected for ACRL and Choice combined in 1985/86 is $2,190,894. This is $404,377 more than the budget for 1984/85. This increase is due to the National Conference which will be held in 1986 and anticipates revenues of close to $270,000, an increase of $75,000 in publications revenues and an increase of almost $23,000 in membership revenues.

REVENUES

Program	1 Budgeted 1984/85	2 Actual 1984/85 2nd Closing	3 Budgeted 1985/86
Membership Dues	$ 198,550	$ 220,489	$ 221,425
Publications
Choice	1,115,600	1,068,013	1,220,405
C&RL	113,147	99,837	121,755
C&RL News	102,179	159,331	165,530
In-House	28,000	39,938	32,700
BCL III	0	4,669	0
Subtotal	1,358,926	1,371,788	1,540,390
Conferences & Workshops
National Conference	1,000	27,187	268,731
Preconferences	26,000	26,826	25,000
Continuing Education	52,540	31,353	48,740
Subtotal	79,540	85,366	342,471
Funded Projects
Divisional Leadership	5,000	1,357	0
NEH Project	135,523	112,047	80,248
Subtotal	140,523	113,404	80,248
Other (Including FJLS and Jobline,
Project Income, Contributions & Gifts)	8,978	18,550	6,360
TOTAL	$1,786,517	$1,809,597	$2,190,894
TOTAL(without Choice)	$ 670,917	$ 741,584	$ 970,489

Assumptions used in making these revenue projections included:

1) The number of members will increase at approximately the same rate as it did this year (3.2%). This will include an increase in organizational members. No dues increase is anticipated. 2) Advertising revenues will again increase markedly for C&RL News and C&RL as a result of more aggressive space selling.

3) Advertising and subscription revenues for Choice will increase as a result of a subscription price increase.

4) Books for College Libraries, 3rd edition will be subsidized by ACRL and will be published jointly with ALA Publishing. Publishing will assume publication costs and ACRL will assume costs of authorship.

5) Subscription rates will remain the same for C&RL and C&RL News.

6) The Continuing Education program revenue will increase as a result of the development of the regional program, a new marketing plan, and the Baltimore National Conference continuing education program.

7) Choice revenues, which constitute more than half the total ACRL budget, have not been included in the above percentages. These are rather calculated on ACRL figures alone.

ACRL objects of expense 1985/86

The ACRL Goals and Objectives established in the Long Range Plan will drive the programs and services for the year. The use of a program budget allows ACRL to observe where its dollars go. One extremely large item in the 1985/86 budget are the revenues and expenses associated with holding a National Conference in April 1986. This will account for approximately 29.2% of expenses. Publications also account for a very large part of the expenses, 36.9%. It is anticipated that 18% of the expenses will be made in the area of membership activities including funding for chapters, sections, committees, discussion groups, membership services, the Executive Committee and Board, and projects such as research, statistics, and Jobline. About 7.6% of expenses will be spent on funded projects. Another 7.9% will be spent on Preconferences and Continuing Education. In 1985/86 some important items to note in program expenditures are:

1) We anticipate increased funding to ACRL’s chapters. The additional chapter program funds now provide seed money for new chapters and for innovative chapter activity. These will probably increase. In the past chapters, committees, and sections have rarely used their full budgeted amounts. It is anticipated that a trend toward using more of the budgeted funds will be seen.

EXPENSES

Program	1 Budgeted 1984/85	2 Actual 1984/85	3 Budgeted 1985/86
Membership Activities
Membership Services	$ 30,350	$ 20,987	$ 19,745
Board & Executive Committee	16,403	39,107	9,763
Budget & Finance Committee	2,004	707	1,963
Sections	33,054	25,531	39,198
Chapters	43,505	39.406	39,752
Committees	40,055	41,121	36,830
Discussion Groups	2,616	755	1,588
Advisory	29,376	14,612	19,272
Liaison	10,105	2,239	0
ACRL 100	305	51	963
Research	6,348	0	3,177
Statistics	7,190	6,117	2,686
Jobline	1,024	1,755	1,757
Subtotal	222,380	192,388	176,694
Publications
Choice	1,092,811	974,781	1,148,183
C&RL	109,872	76,680	105,616
C&RL News	114,577	123,496	153,537
In-House	27,837	36,751	35,373
FJLS	2,296	3,709	2,828
BCL III	813	3,412	66,779
Subtotal	1,348,206	1,218,829	1,512,316
Conferences & Workshops
National Conference, Seattle	1,000	2,059	0
National Conference, Baltimore	36,927	30,217	286,173
Preconference (RBMS)	25,986	23,804	26,103
Continuing Education	51,529	44,155	51,376
Subtotal	115,442	100,235	363,652
Funded Projects
Divisional Leadership	4,265	6,165	0
NEH	135,523	124,450	74,101
Subtotal	139,788	130,615	74,101
TOTAL	$1,825,816	$1,642,067	$2,126,763
TOTAL(without Choice)	$ 733,005	$ 667,286	$ 978,580

2) Books for College Libraries, 3rd edition, will be prepared under the management of the Choice editor and publisher.

3) A National Conference will be held only two years after the most recent one. This will be in Baltimore on the theme “Energies for Transition.”

4) The Continuing Education program will continue to grow and will be enriched by presentations at the National Conference.

5) The NEH joint project with PLA will probably be completed during the year.

Assumptions that were used in making these projections included:

1) Telephone expense will not increase.

2)Staff salary allocations to programs were arrived at by projecting actual time study data and modifying it according to anticipated program shifts.

3) Postage was increased to reflect 10 % increase in the first class rate and 21 % in the library rate.

4) The ALA Executive Board Personnel Committee disallowed ACRL’s Tuition Reimbursement Program, thus reducing personnel expenses by approximately $6,000.

The importance of the Strategic Plan for ACRL’s financial future is very great. The Division has accumulated an enviable reserves fund (now equal to 21.6 % of one year’s revenue) and careful planning is needed to assure that these reserves are used in furthering the priorities identified in the planning process. Budgets in future years will reflect program priorities which emerge from this process, thus ensuring that resources are used in the service of members.

Notes

1. Revenue for Choice subscriptions in future time periods was deferred by auditors in September, 1984, leaving an actual fund balance of ($102,389) at the beginning of the year. The actual year-end balance therefore represents a year of excellent performance in which revenues exceeded expenses by $93,232.