Jennifer Frederick and the Ithaka S+R team, [reporting on library budget cuts](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/12/09/academic-library-budgets-fall-2020/) on [The Scholarly Kitchen back in December](https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/12/09/academic-library-budgets-fall-2020/):
> With so many US academic libraries facing cuts, some might be tempted to assume that the sector is bottoming out and will soon recover. To the contrary, we see risks of a further slide. In the current set of findings, nearly a quarter of responding directors report not having a budget for the current fiscal year: this often means that they are subject to expenditure controls and will spend less, in some cases far less, than they did in previous years. And while many directors are not sure what the future will bring, we have heard anecdotally from some that the cuts they are experiencing in the current fiscal year are part of a university effort to smooth anticipated reductions over two or more years, meaning that they anticipate further cuts next year. While a more optimistic scenario remains possible as the political and public health situations develop, it would be irresponsible to forecast that the sector has reached a nadir.
The cuts are coming even as the [read-and-publish tsunami](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/04/01/cambridge-university-press-strikes-deals-open-access) locks in library spending for the [closed authorship model](https://www.jeffpooley.com/2021/03/the-open-authorship-movement/).