The Collection Budget Fund Structure: A Case Study Illustrating the Need for Collaboration Between Collection Development and Acquisitions

Collection Development and Acquisitions staff in a library have a responsibility to account for the sound and responsible expenditure of library budgets. They need to communicate their needs about the information required from the fund code structure in their Integrated Library System to perform their job duties and demonstrate sound fiscal management. When fund codes lose the granularity that provides information on the costs of different formats by subject discipline or academic department there is a subsequent loss in fiscal accountability and the ability to accurately project anticipated inflationary costs for formats in different disciplines. When the Acquisitions Unit at the Adelphi University Libraries streamlined the fund code structure the loss of granularity had a major impact on budget management and fiscal accountability for Collection Development. This unintended consequence points to the need for close collaboration and mutual understanding of needs between Collection Development and Acquisitions.