NYSHEI is dedicated to state advocacy on behalf of the public and private academic and research libraries of New York State.  Our vision is for all New York state students, faculty, entrepreneurs, researchers, and small businesses to have access to qualify information which stimulates learning, academic and applied research, and economic advancement.

Read NYSHEI testimony to the New York State Legislative Joint Budget Committee on Higher Education, presented to the committee at the February 11 public hearing.

Our top three initiatives for 2013 are:

Taxpayer Access to Publicly Funded Research (TAPFR)

NYSHEI is leading New York to become the first open access state in the nation.

Our TAPFR legislation is modeled on the federal initiative developed by SPARC.

TAPFR Policy Paper - updated March 2013

TAPFR Memorandum of Support – A.180/S.4050 – updated March 2013

Sample Text in support of TAPFR 3 

TAPFR Handout – updated March 2013

Procurement Transformation

NYSHEI gained a great victory in 2012.  By securing broad reforms to the procurement of information resources, NYSHEI set the foundation for years of collaborations, dollar savings, and other efficiencies.  Heading into 2013 NYSHEI will again partner with the administration of Governor Andrew Cuomo to secure swift and appropriate implementation of the sweeping changes of 2012.  These efforts prove that academic and research libraries are now a respected part of the policy making process.

A Summary of the 2012 Procurement Reforms

Library Aid

During 2013 NYSHEI sought increases in aid for Coordinated Collection Development, Medical Information Services Program, Hospital Library Aid, and NYPL to CUNY Aid.

Working with our advocacy partners we first succeeded in thwarting any aid cuts in the budget first proposed by Governor Cuomo.  In fact, the Governor adopted the final aid numbers from the prior year as his baseline.   The final enacted budget saw a $4 million aid increase thanks to our allies in the state legislature.  This represents a five percent increase from prior year.  Each of the NYSHEI targeted aid programs will enjoy this five percent increase.

E-Textbooks

A task force of subject matter experts has been enlisted to develop a white paper on electronic textbooks.  This paper will be used to inform policy makers about the issue and its inherent challenges.  The paper will also serve as the basis for NYSHEI policy recommendations.

The E-Textbook White Paper is scheduled for release during the second week of April 2013