University Faculty Library Board
- Helps formulate broad library policy.
- Represents the interest of the Libraries to the faculty as well as to the University administration.
- Keeps the University Librarian informed of the needs and concerns of the faculty and students, while maintaining and promoting the welfare of the University Libraries.
Members
ILR School
Term Ends: 6/30/29
Arts & Sciences
Term Ends: 6/30/29
Alternate
Ex Officio
Delegate for VP for Research and Innovation
Zander Lynch
Graduate Student
Student Member
Term Ends: 6/30/26
Human Ecology
Term Ends: 6/30/28
Zora deRham
Undergraduate Student
Student Member
Term Ends: 6/30/26
Engineering
Term Ends: 6/30/28
AAP, CALS
Term Ends: 6/30/28
Arts & Sciences
Term Ends: 6/30/26
CALS
Co-chair
Term Ends: 6/30/26
CALS
Co-chair
Term Ends: 6/30/28
Veterinary Medicine
Term Ends: 6/30/26
Bowers CIS
Term Ends: 6/30/27
Arts & Sciences
Term Ends: 6/30/27
Arts & Sciences
Term Ends: 6/30/28
Associate Dean of Faculty
Ex Officio, no voting privileges
Dean of Faculty
Ex Officio, no voting privileges
Provost
Ex Officio
University Librarian
Ex Officio
VP for Research and Innovation
Ex Officio
Attends Meetings:
Director, Cornell University Press – Jane Bunker
Executive Assistant to the University Librarian – Michelle Eastman
*no voting privileges
Bylaws
Charge
- The Board shall assist the University Librarian in maintaining and promoting the welfare of the University Libraries. It shall join with the University Librarian to review and help formulate broad library policy and shall serve as an advocate for the University Libraries with the Cornell community.
- The Board shall keep the Librarian informed of the needs and concerns of the faculty and students and shall help to represent the interest of the Libraries to the faculty as well as to the University administration. The Librarian shall seek and weigh the Board’s advice with respect to problems and issues affecting the Libraries before deciding on changes in policy. To that end, the Librarian shall take appropriate initiatives to present matters of policy to the Board in a timely manner, to provide the Board with pertinent information about library operations and services and to meet with the Chair of the Board frequently.
- The Board shall advise the President of its position on policy matters affecting the Libraries and about the state of the Libraries. It shall forward an annual report of its activities to the President, to the Dean of the Faculty and to the Faculty Senate, and it shall report to the Faculty Senate whenever either the Board or the Senate thinks it advisable.
- Regular meetings of the Board shall be scheduled once each month during the academic year. The Chair, appointed by the Nominations and Elections Committee with the concurrence of the Faculty Senate, shall prepare the agenda in consultation with the Director and other members of the Board and shall call the meetings. One of the appointed members shall serve as a recording secretary.
Composition
Twelve members of the faculty appointed for four-year terms by the President with the advice of the Nominations and Elections Committee and the concurrence of the Faculty Senate. Such faculty members shall be chosen in such a way as to represent the special library interests of the various disciplines.
Two students selected in a manner acceptable to the Nominations and Elections Committee.
The Provost, the Vice President for Research & Innovation, and the University Librarian as ex officio members.
Adopted by the Faculty Council of Representatives, November 13, 1974, Records, pp. 4347-49C. Amended Faculty Council of Representatives, September 24, 1986, Records, pp. 6295-97C, Appendix C; December 9, 1987, Records, pp. 6530-44C, Appendices A and B. Changes in nomenclature from FCR to Faculty Senate, and to reflect amendments to Organization and Procedures of the University Faculty, October 1995.
Where not listed as a member or chair, both the Dean of Faculty and the Associate Dean and Secretary of the Faculty, shall be a ex officio members of each committee of the University Faculty and each committee of the Senate. (Faculty Handbook, Article V Section D Part 7) (Faculty Handbook, Article VI Section A Part 3)
2025-26 Annual Report
To: Dean De Rosa
From: Co-Chair Nilay Yapici
Date: June 1, 2026
Subject: University Faculty Library Board Annual Report
Composition of the Committee
During the 2025–26 academic year, the membership of the University Faculty Library Board (FLB) was:
- Annetta Alexandridis, A&S (through 2028)
- George Boyer, A&S (through 2027)
- Ruth Collins, VET (through 2026)
- David Mimno, CIS (through 2027)
- David Sahn, HEC (through 2028)
- Shaoyi Jiang, ENG (through 2028)
- Mildred Warner, AAP (through 2028)
- Chiara Formichi, A&S (through 2026)
- Candelaria Garay, A&S (through 2029)
- Helena Viramontes, A&S (through 2029)
- Zander Lynch, GRAD (through 2026)
- Zora deRham, UGRAD (through 2026)
- Nick Brennan, (through 2025)
- Nilay Yapici, Co-Chair, A&S (through 2026)
- Karim-Aly Kassam, Chair, CALS (through 2028)
Completing service this year:
- Karen Levy, CIS (through 2025)
- Ravi Ramakrishna, A&S (through 2025)
Incoming members:
- Gilly Leshed, CIS (through 2030)
- Antonia Jameson Jordan, VET (through 2030)
Ex Officio members:
- Kavita Bala, Provost
- Natalie Bazarova, Delegate for the Vice President for Research and Innovation
- Cynthia Leifer, Delegate for the Vice President for Research and Innovation
- Gary Koretzky, [ex officio,VP for Research and Innovation]
- Eve De Rosa, Dean of the Faculty
- Adam T. Smith, Associate Dean of the Faculty (Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee)
- Elaine Westbrooks, Carl A. Kroch University Librarian
Narrative
The Cornell University Library remains an important part of our institutional fabric; a network of seventeen libraries that reaches every college and discipline, available in person and, increasingly, online. Its physical and digital collections bind the present scholarly community to the generations of researchers who came before and those who will follow. A central task of the Faculty Library Board is to keep this value visible to the faculty and students who rely on the Library daily, and to the citizens of New York and the nation who are served by an institution committed to the free and informed exchange of knowledge.
The 2025–26 year was defined by an intensifying financial crisis for all universities in the country. The Cornell Library absorbed a budget reduction of roughly $5 million in the current fiscal year, divided across personnel (about $2M), operations (about $1M), and collections (about $2M), on top of approximately $7 million in cumulative reductions over the preceding twelve years. The impact on Library is acute: We expect to cancel on the order of 1,000 journal titles this year and roughly 1,500 more next year as it unbundles Elsevier’s ScienceDirect “big deal,” with graduate students and the humanities among those most affected.
The Library Board treated these reductions not as an accounting matter but as a question of institutional commitment. Over the course of the year, members of the Library Committee prepared a formal statement to the Provost documenting the long-term consequences of cumulative cuts and benchmarking Cornell against its peers. The Library’s collection budget has grown roughly 5% through philanthropy while comparable Ivy+ institutions have grown by about 27%, and Cornell’s research-library standing has slipped from 8th to 26th over twenty-five years.
In January, Provost Kavita Bala met with the Board to discuss the Library’s strategic role amid budget centralization, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the work of the “Future of the American University” (FAU) committee. Subsequent conversations with FAU representatives placed the Library at the center of questions about public trust and the future of scholarship. Members discussed the costs of a system dominated by multinational for-profit publishers, a surge in AI-generated fraudulent publications and the potential migration of journals to non-profit and university-press models.
The Board also looked for opportunities. Members explored how the Library might contribute to Cornell’s $30 million agricultural research commitment to the New York State, and how the Library could help lead ethical AI-literacy instruction across the Cornell campuses.
Looking forward, the Library Board intends to sustain its advocacy for proportionate and transparent budgeting, to pursue a coalition of like-minded institutions on academic-publishing reform (potentially including a white paper and campus-awareness efforts), and to support the scaling of the AI-literacy curriculum beyond its pilot.
Meeting Agendas
September 4, 2025
Welcome and introduction of new Board members.
Review of the Board’s charge and mission (Westbrooks).
Introduction to Cornell University Library: history, the “One Library for One Cornell” strategic plan, and statistics on size, staffing, and budget.
The Library’s mission, partnerships, and fundraising.
The role of AI in academic libraries and research services.
Budget challenges: declining investment, rising journal costs, the $3M/year ScienceDirect contract, and an initial 3% reduction.
Faculty advocacy and approaches to service reductions and journal cancellations.
October 9, 2025
Approval of the September 4, 2025 minutes.
Budget reduction: $5M cut this fiscal year (about $2M personnel, $1M operating, $2M collections) atop roughly $7M over the prior twelve years; about 20 vacant positions eliminated.
Planned journal cancellations: about 1,000 titles this year and 1,500 next year with the unbundling of Elsevier’s ScienceDirect; impact on graduate students and the humanities.
Response strategy: drafting a statement to the Provost, benchmarking against peer institutions, and coordinating with the GPSA and other assemblies.
Upcoming budget and Elsevier town halls, including Weill Cornell Medicine and WCM-Qatar.
November 20, 2025
Approval of the October 9, 2025 minutes.
Library exhibitions and their educational value; potential faculty collaborations and grant-related outreach.
Budget update: the federal settlement yielded no return; ongoing publisher negotiations with modest savings.
GPSA resolution on library budget reductions (awaiting presidential review).
Postponement of the Provost’s visit to allow time to prepare the letter.
Mann Library and the $30M agricultural research initiative as a programmatic opportunity.
January 21, 2026 — with Provost Kavita Bala
Approval of the November 20, 2025 minutes (deferred).
Discussion with the Provost: the Library’s vital role; collection-budget growth of 5% via philanthropy versus about 27% at Ivy+ peers; ranking decline from 8th to 26th over twenty-five years.
The Library’s strategic role in the AI era and ethical AI literacy.
University financial planning, the budget-centralization plan, and the “Shaping Our Future” effort.
Academic publishing reform and the Future of the American University (FAU) committee.
February 18, 2026 — with the Future of the American University committee (Durba Ghosh, Sheila Olmstead)
Approval of the November 20, 2025 and January 21, 2026 minutes.
The future of the American university and the Library’s role in it; public trust.
High publication costs (article-processing charges of $5,000–$12,000) and access challenges in STEM.
The shift from ownership to access rights for content, and implications for data-intensive research.
Transitioning journals from for-profit publishers to non-profit and university-press models (e.g., Elsevier to the University of Chicago Press).
Who should own and control knowledge, preserving print and special collections.
March 23, 2026
Approval of the February 18, 2026 minutes (no quorum; discussion only).
Continuing discussion from the Provost and FAU visits.
Academic publishing challenges: publication fees, AI-generated fraudulent research, and publication delays.
Open-access alternatives: Cornell eCommons, arXiv, and bioRxiv; EPOCH Magazine.
Potential actions: campus awareness events, inter-institutional partnerships, and a possible white paper, mindful of impacts on scholarly societies.
April 22, 2026
Actionable items on academic publishing challenges (Westbrooks).
Update on identifying like-minded institutions and a potential multi-university coalition.
Increasing awareness of academic publishing issues within Cornell.
2024-25 Annual Report
To: Dean De Rosa
From: Chair Karim-Aly Kassam
Date: June 30, 2025
Subject: University Faculty Library Board Annual Report
Composition of the Committee
During the 2024-25 academic year the membership of University Faculty Library Board (FLB) was:
Annetta Alexandridis, A&S (through 2028)
George Boyer, A&S (through 2027)
Ruth Collins, VET (through 2026)
Zora deRham UGRAD (through 2025)
Chiara Formichi, A&S (through 2026)
Shaoyi Jiang, ENG (through 2028)
Karen Levy, CIS (through 2025)
Zander Lynch GRAD, through 2025)
David Mimno, CIS (through 2027)
David Sahn, HEC, through 2028)
Mildred Warner, AAP (through 2028)
Nancy Yapici, CALS (through 2026)
Karim-Aly Kassam, Chair, Spring 2025, CALS (through 2028)
Ravi Ramakrishna, Chair, Fall 2024, A&S (through 2025)
Ex Officio members include:
Kavita Bala, Provost
Natalie Bazarova, Delegate for VP for Research and Innovation
Eve De Rosa, Dean of the Faculty
Chelsea Sprecht, Associate Dean of the Faculty
Elaine Westbrooks, University Librarian
Narrative
The Cornell University Library is everywhere. It exists physically and digitally in the communications networks of faculty and students. It transcends historical time and physical space from Rare Collections to digital collections. The 18 libraries can be accessed in-person at their location or electronically from anywhere there is network service. The Library is literally Cornell University’s circulatory system. It secures the health and wellbeing of the organic body called Cornell. Like fish in water or humans with air, many faculty and students, do not often recognize the significance of the Cornell University Library system to their scholarly life. A key future role for the Faculty Library Board will be to bring this consciousness to fellow faculty and students as well as to the tax-paying citizens of New York.
In 2024, the Faculty Library Board (FLB) focused on the financial and structural challenges rooted in the extortive actions of the oligarchic concentration of academic publishing. The detail of this information is found in the minutes of each meeting. In spring 2025, the FLB focused on scenarios of practical action necessary to respond to academic publishing challenges. Again, details of this information is found in the minutes of each meeting.
Looking forward, the Cornell University Library faces financial challenges in academic publishing, funding cuts resulting from the current US administration, and the need to inform New York and US citizenry of the ethical role and value of the informed intellect to effective functioning of pluralistic democratic society in the United States.
Meeting Agendas
September 5, 2024
- Approval of minutes of April 15, 2024 meeting.
- Introduction of Board members and review of the Board’s charge. Various housekeeping.
- Introduction to Cornell University Library (Westbrooks)
- Summary of last year.
- Discuss goals for the semester, including a possible concrete step to take to address scholarly publishing challenges.
October 17, 2024
- Approved Minutes from September 5, 2024 Meeting.
- Presentation: Author Rights (Priehs) 20 min + 10 Q&A.
- Summary & Discussion: The lawsuit against publishing industry giants filed by UCLA professor (Priehs) 10 min + 5 min Q&A.
- Planning for meeting the Acting and incoming Provosts.
November 21, 2024
- Introductions (3-5 minutes).
- Presentation by Elaine Westbrooks, Carl A. Kroch University Librarian (10 minutes).
- Comments by Acting Provost Siliciano (3-5 minutes).
- Discussion (30 minutes).
- Approval of the 10/17/2024 minutes, discussion (45 minutes).
January 28, 2025
- Welcome from the Chair
- Approval of the minutes from November 21, 2024
- Context regarding Elsevier contract:
- Library challenges.
- Why we need to unbundle the big deal.
- Phases of this work.
- Impact of these actions on researchers.
- Identify Action Items.
- Other business.
February 25, 2025
- Approval of the January 28, 2025 meeting minutes.
- Unbundling the ScienceDirect Big Deal. – How would this impact you personally (grants, research, teaching, extension).
- Library experience with unbundling Wiley.
- Library strategic plan.
March 18, 2025
- Budget Reduction Update.
- Preparation for Provost visit on 04/22/2025.
April 22, 2025
- Approval of the February and March meeting minutes February 25, 2025 and March 18, 2025 meetings
- Chair’s Welcome
- Vision for the Library
- Faculty Point of View
2023-24 Annual Report
To: Dean De Rosa
From: Co-Chairs Ravi Ramakrishna and Ellis Loew
Date: June 19, 2024
Subject: University Faculty Library Board Annual Report
Composition of the Committee
During the 2023-24 academic year the membership of University Faculty Library Board (UFLB) was:
George Boyer, A&S (through 2027)
Jeremy Braddock, A&S (through 2024)
Ruth Collins, VET (through 2026)
Chiara Formichi, A&S (through 2026)
Jian Hua, CALS (through 2026)
Karim-Aly Kassam, CALS (through 2024)
Ailong Ke, A&S (through 2026)
Patrick Kuehl, UG (through 2024)
Karen Levy, CIS (through 2024)
Melia Matthews, GRAD (through 2024)
David Mimno, CIS (through 2027)
Rachel Weil, A&S (through 2024)
Nancy Yapici, CALS (through 2026)
Ellis Loew (co-chair), VET (through 2024)
Ravi Ramakrishna (co-chair), A&S (through 2025)
Incoming members include:
Annetta Alexandridis, A&S (through 2028)
Shaoyi Jiang, ENG (through 2028)
Mildred Warner, AAP (through 2028)
The University Librarian, VP for Research and Innovation, and provost are ex officio members.
Professor Loew is rotating off the board on June 30, 2024 and Professor Ramakrishna begins a leave effective January 1, 2025, though he will attend meetings through the end of his term, June 30, 2025. Professor Kassam will assume the Chair effective January 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028.
Committee Business
The initial 2023-24 meeting of the UFLB was about introducing the new UFLB members to the board and an introduction to the library. The following meeting continued in this vein with an introduction to the CU Press.
For the remainder of the year the UFLB focused on scholarly publishing and lack of sustainability of the current model. The goal was to inform UFLB members of the issues in detail and then brainstorm with the University Librarian Elaine Westbrooks about possible courses of action. We expect this discussion will continue into the 2024-25 academic year with the hope that small changes could be implemented.
UFLB Agendas 2023-24
September 7, 2023
- Introductions
- Housekeeping/Meeting format discussion
- Review of UFLB Charge and recap of the 2022-23 Annual report
- Review board membership
- Introduction to Cornell University Library & CU Press (Elaine Westbrooks)
- Future Agenda Items
October 12, 2023
- Approve minutes of the September 7, 2023 meeting
- Introduction to CU Press (Mahinder Kingra, editor-in-chief CU Press)
- Introduction to Fair Use (Mike Priehs, copyright specialist)
- Student membership update (Westbrooks)
- Library strategic planning (Westbrooks)
December 14, 2023
- Approve Minutes of the October 12, 2023 meeting
- Current State of Scholarly Publishing Presentation (Westbrooks) & Discussion. This is the first of a series of presentations regarding scholarly publishing, the impact on the library, current trends, challenges, and how we might make improvement.
February 12, 2024
- Approve Minutes of the December 14, 2023 meeting
- Scholarly publishing use case #2 Cambridge University Press
- Future of scholarly publishing FAQ discussion
March 11, 2024
- Approve minutes of the February 12, 2024 meeting
- Discuss research integrity
- Discuss peer review
April 15, 2024
- Approve the minutes of the March 11, 2024 meeting
- Proposed Solutions and Discussion: How to Improve the Scholarly Publishing System – Salvage & Tweak versus Burn Down & Transform
Past Annual Reports
Send questions to Senate Committee Coordinator – C.A. Shugarts