Where has summer gone? Looking at the calendar turning August brings the usual flutter of excitement and panic: I didn’t get nearly as many things done this summer as I had anticipated. If you are in the same boat, you are not alone, but I hope that you have had a chance for a summer breather somewhere in there. If not, time’s a wastin’!

I want to thank everyone who has engaged in conversations this summer around planning and budget. A particular word of thanks to the Strategic Vision Planning Team, who are picking up steam now and will be more visible in the fall semester as they start to engage us in conversations. 

Our budget situation is difficult. There’s no sugar-coating that, but understanding it fully is still a project, and one that has my focus these last few months, and probably through the fall quarter. Details are still coming into view so expect to hear more about this from me in the next two to three months. We are required to submit a plan by the end of August that models 2%, 4%, and 6% reductions for FY26 and FY27, and talks about their likely impact.

In addition to modeling reductions, you know about the other planning and budget issues, and I’m very thankful that so many have turned up to special meetings to share some of these plans with you. Our draft proposed organizational structure has been discussed first with those whose reporting lines would potentially change, then with their units, with the Executive Committee including reps from the Library Committee of Academic and Civil Service Professionals and Library Staff Support Committee, at a special meeting of Academic Council, with unit heads, and finally at a special meeting for all Library employees on Monday of this week. At the same meeting I shared detailed information about how we will implement the 2% merit increase salary pool this year, which the Library will self-fund along with other Centrally Budgeted Units.

If you missed details on any of the above, please watch the recording that Beth Lewis shared with the all-employee listserv on July 29, and as always, I’m grateful for your questions, input, and counsel. This is a rough patch, but we will get through it, and we will thrive. Enjoy your last official month of summer, and as always, thank you for what you do for the Library and the University of Illinois. I hope you’ll join us at the next all-library meeting on August 27, in person at the Illini Union and online.

Claire Stewart
The Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian