The Eugene McDermott Library requested a 17.2% fee increase, meaning a bigger percentage of students’ tuition dollars will go toward funding the library instead of funding other services, according to documents from the Library Committee’s annual Feb. 16 meeting. Currently, $14.50 from each credit hour a student pays for goes toward the library; the proposed increase would give $17 per credit hour to the library.
The request comes as the library faces significant financial pressure. One of the most significant price hikes has been in dataset subscriptions for the Jindal School of Management and the school of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, which have increased by 44.4% over the past five years, from $708,158 to over $1 million. Database funding as a whole rose 26.1% and journal subscriptions rose 12.7% in that same timeframe. To cover those increases, the library has cut its book budget by 65.4% — from $858,947 in 2021 to just $297,360 in 2026.
Student fees currently account for roughly two-thirds of library funding. Without an increase, Dean of Libraries Ellen Safley said some services will need to be cut.
The library is facing multiple issues beyond its immediate need for more money. For example, thelibrary’s building is not in ideal condition. Construction on the new Student Union and Student Success Center complex damaged drainage around the library, leading to mold in the first-floor office space of the library. The situation cannot be fixed until the construction is complete next spring. Affected library staff have been partially relocated to the Research and Operations Center off Waterview Parkway for the time being.
Artificial intelligence has also taken center stage. AI tools are being embedded into academic search platforms like SCOPUS and JSTOR, raising security and copyright concerns, and students have begun requesting articles hallucinated by AI that do not exist. It is often unclear whether AI can be toggled off or who bears responsibility when students use it unintentionally.
New federal rules around making web and mobile applications accessible to disabled users, which are set to take effect April 24, pose another challenge. Some of the library’s vendors that provide web and mobile content have not updated their products to meet the new regulations, making UTD liable for their noncompliance. The library has already lost access to other resources in recent years, such as NetAdvantage because of compliance concerns and the Naxos music database because of its ties with China. Until vendors make their products wholly compliant, staff and faculty can only use bits and pieces of those products which do comply.
The minutes indicate the library is making progress in several areas. Study room availability panels are being installed, and RFID tags have been placed on 116,000 items for better collection security. A neurodivergent-friendly study room redesign is planned with a potential kickoff in fall 2026, the library’s 50th anniversary. The library is also adopting Specto, a digital archive platform for campus collections, theses and faculty primary resources, making UTD one of the first adopters.
No students on the Library Committee were present at the meeting to hear the fee increase request. The request has been submitted to the outgoing provost, Inga Musselman, and Vice President of Budget and Finance Orkun Toros, but no response is expected until summer. Student Government has not yet taken a position on the increase.