ABSTRACT
Academic libraries are under pressure to improve their weak budgetary practices as parent institutions emphasize accountability. Several have adopted various versions of program budgeting which result in spreading part of the responsibility for budgeting beyond top management to division heads and others. Additional libraries will undoubtedly be encouraged to do the same. The program budgeting effort is difficult, frustrating, and time-consuming, yet it forces the library to assess its services in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. This paper examines the steps required to implement in the Reference Services Division a version of program budgeting that combines goal statements with a line-item budget.
