2019 Proposals for Voting

Membership Votes in Favor of Proposals on Member Criteria and Fee Model

Voting on proposals to the membership opened on Monday February 4 and closed on Monday February 25, 2019. The HathiTrust membership voted to approve both proposed member criteria and proposals to modify the fee model.  Both proposals received far more Yes votes than needed for approval.  Both also received a few No and Abstain votes. There was a record response rate for this election, with 107 of 127 voting members responding.  Details about implementation and communications are forthcoming. Details on the proposed Membership Criteria and Fee Model Changes (with Sample Fee/Tier Analysis) can be found in the proposal PDFs linked below.  

Outcome of Weighted Voting

Member Criteria (81 votes needed to pass): Yes = 133 No = 2 Abstain = 2

Fee Model (107 votes needed to pass):  Yes = 132 No = 4 Abstain = 3

What’s Changing and When?

Formalize Membership Criteria: Effective Immediately (February 2019)

The first proposal formalized a statement of our membership criteria. In these criteria we clarify that HathiTrust membership is available to libraries associated with not-for-profit organizations, that membership is available to international libraries, and more clearly delineates how state university systems may join and how their fees are assessed.

With the passage of this proposal, all state university system members will be assessed a public domain fee for each R1 institution in their system.  The approval of the criteria will not affect the status of other existing memberships or current membership agreements, but will guide our future work.

Modify the Public Domain Element of the Fee Model: Effective 2020

The second proposal addressed a modification to only the public domain element of the fee model and is designed to be revenue-neutral. Under this proposal, members are assigned a tier based on their total library expenditures, and the public domain fee is assessed on a graduated scale according to the tier.

With the passage of this proposal, beginning in 2020, there will be three tiers of members based on each member's annual Total Library Expenditures. Libraries with the largest budgets (tier 3) will pay a larger public domain fee, while libraries with the smallest budgets (tier 1) will pay a lower public domain fee. Tier 2 libraries include the majority of members and this model will have little or no effect on their fees. All members receive the same services and status regardless of tier. These changes allow us to assess annual fees to members in a way that considers the member’s capacity to pay, and the relative degree of benefit the university or college receives from enhanced access to the public domain collection.

The planned tiers, and the data used to construct them, are available for review.  Tier assignments will remain stable for at least three years.   As new members join HathiTrust, they will be assigned to a tier according to the ranges and assignments defined in these sheets.   

2019 Voting Proposals: Member Criteria and Fee Model

The HathiTrust Bylaws state that the Board of Governors propose and the Members dispose, or vote, on issues related to the annual budget and fees; and the formula or the criteria for eligibility for membership. (Section 7, Bylaws of HathiTrust).

1)  A proposal to formally define the criteria for membership.  Membership Criteria Proposal

The Bylaws, approved in 2012, require that members approve the criteria for membership in HathiTrust, but this has not been completed.  Recent review of the membership strategy largely confirmed the practice for accepting members. The formal statement in the proposal clarifies the criteria for membership in clear and explicit language, especially regarding state university systems. Going forward, all state university system members will be assessed a public domain fee for each R1 institution in their system.  The approval of the criteria will not affect the status of existing memberships or current membership agreements, but will guide our future work. 

2) A proposal to modify the public domain element of our fee model.   Fee Model Change Proposal

Under this proposal, HathiTrust would adjust only the public domain element of the fee model.  Currently all members pay the same amount to support costs associated with the portion of the HathiTrust collection in the public domain.  In 2019 that would be $9,275 USD. If approved, beginning in 2020, there will be three tiers of members based on each member's annual total expenditures.  Libraries with the largest budgets (tier 3) would pay a larger public domain fee, while libraries with the smallest budgets (tier 1) would pay a lower public domain fee.  Tier 2 libraries include the majority of members and this model would have little or no effect on their fees. The fees for 2019 are not affected by this proposal. All members receive the same services and status regardless of tier.

 HathiTrust Fee Model Change: Preliminary Tier/Fee Analysis

Recording of Fee Model Change Presentation

Voting

The vote will run from February 4 through February 25, 2019.   An electronic ballot will be sent to official member representatives for their vote. Votes will be calculated following the weighted voting model in use since the 2011 Constitutional Convention:

• Votes are weighted by calculating the square root of the volumes contributed and dollars spent.
• Minimum vote weights will be rounded up to a value of one (1) so that no institution has a vote with a weight of less than one.*

Voting weights will be calculated using data current as of December 31, 2018.

Questions

Questions about the process or qualifications may be directed to Melissa Stewart at mmstewa@hathitrust.org.

* More information about the weighted voting model can be found here: https://www.hathitrust.org/explanation-of-weighted-voting

This page will be updated with additional material as it becomes available.