Where library budgets are concerned, there is every evidence now, after three years, that research libraries have arrived at "the new normal." That is, they do not expect a return to systematic and regular additions to Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) budgets in order to support ever-increasing prices that are out of proportion to inflation. These are facts that ought to be understood as matters of survival not only by librarians but also in the library market place generally. The economic crisis that libraries have faced during the last three years has allowed them to make hard decisions. Early indicators point to the fact that the "serious crisis" is not going to waste for research libraries around the world. The evidence is that ARL libraries are grappling with the economic crisis by accelerating the rate of adaptation of the research library model. The ferment in higher education, combined with the ongoing fiscal crisis, is very much the condition of the research library environment. The author believes libraries are likely to be more successful in the future if they maximize the exchange of information about the work they are doing to change the academic and research library model. (Contains 7 notes, 3 tables, and 4 figures.)