Beginning in 1995, the University Libraries of Virginia Tech embarked on a major shelf-load reduction/storage project. Every effort was made to communicate the scope of the project to the teaching/research faculty of the university. This article presents an overview of the project, with emphasis on ways in which sensible criteria, advance…

Discusses the need for research libraries to develop a greater sense of financial accountability, both from a moral standpoint and to provide better services. Topics covered include areas where cost benefit tradeoffs have been neglected, possible consequences of not becoming accountable, and the debate over user fees. (12 references) (CLB)

Circulation data from the Virginia Tech Libraries were analyzed to determine the extent of continuity or change between the author's study of the use of subject collections in 1982 and the present. Book circulation has declined, largely due to much less use by undergraduates. The overall profile of subject use has changed in ways traceable to…

Suggests that fundamental questions with broad policy implications and a perspective that approaches academic library from patron's point of view remain to be asked about library costs, collections and their use, library users, and both the academic setting itself and the people who work within it. Seventeen references are cited. (EJS)

This study applies empirical evidence from a large sample of library directors to the conflicts between the internal role of the director and his/her activities with library resources and constituents. The same data are used to study variations in that role. (Author/CWM)