THE ROYAL LIBRARY MUST CUT DKK 62 MILLION: "REQUIRES SHARP PRIORITISATION"

The public sector is being told to reduce administrative costs, and this will have a noticeable impact on the Royal Danish Library, which has several departments at Aarhus University under the AU Library collaboration. 

In June, the government presented its plan, "Multi-Year Work Programme for the State," to "eliminate unnecessary administration and reduce government bureaucracy." By 2030, the government plans to cut back on DKK 5.5 billion on public administration. Of that amount, DKK 103.3 million must come from within the Ministry of Culture's budget, and it has been decided that the Royal Danish Library must cut back on DKK 62.5 million by 2030, when the full amount of the cutbacks will take effect. 

Line Renate Hanssen, Deputy Director of Physical Information Supply and Library Services at the Royal Danish Library, explains in a written statement to Omnibus that there are no "plans for noticeable changes to library functions at Aarhus University in 2026," but the situation "requires sharp prioritisation" in the coming years. 

"The Royal Danish Library, like many other public institutions, has been required to implement cutbacks in the coming years as part of the government's work programme. Based on that, we are working on a number of initiatives to ensure the necessary savings in 2026. In addition, we are looking at how the savings will be implemented in the following years up to 2030. There are no plans for noticeable changes to library functions at Aarhus University in 2026," she says, adding:

"But it is clear that savings of the magnitude we are facing will require sharp prioritisation in the years ahead. In this regard, the Royal Danish Library is very aware that we must continue to provide good library services for students and researchers at Aarhus University. The clear goal is that the Royal Danish Library will continue to ensure access to knowledge and facilitate democratic education in the future," Line Renate Hansen says. 

The Royal Danish Library has not responded to questions about when it expects to be able to specify how the savings will be implemented.

AU Library has lending locations under the Faculty of Arts in Aarhus at the Nobel Park, Katrinebjerg, Moesgård and Kasernen. Arts also has the AU Library in Emdrup. Aarhus BSS has the AU Library in Aarhus on Fuglesangs Allé, Bartholins Allé and in Herning at Birk Centerpark. Health Sciences has the AU Library in the Victor Albeck Building, while Natural Sciences has lending locations at Katrinebjerg and Ny Munkegade. In addition, there is the Royal Danish Library on Victor Albecks Vej. 

MINISTER: "IT IS CLEAR THAT THE CUTBACKS WILL ALSO INVOLVE TASK REDUCTIONS"

In connection with the launch of the government's work programme in June, Minister for Culture,  Jakob Engel-Schmidt (Moderate Party) announced that the plan is ambitious and requires "tough prioritisation".

"It will not be easy, and I am fully aware that the affected institutions and employees will find themselves in a difficult situation," the minister said.

He elaborated that the cutbacks would affect "the level of service at the Royal Danish Library". 

"It has been important to me that the savings primarily come from administration and case processing, and that we, as far as possible, spare our artistic talents, arts education and the audience-oriented culture. It is clear that the cutbacks will also involve task reductions at the affected institutions and changes to the service level at the Royal Danish Library," Jakob Engel-Schmidt said. 

Union representative: EXPECTING TO LOSE EMPLOYEES

At the end of June, the union representative at the Royal Library, Niels Bønding, told Akademikerbladet that the library's management had indicated that some of the cutbacks might perhaps be achieved by reducing building operating costs. But it's hard to believe that the cutbacks won't cost colleagues, he told the paper.

"I think we can safely assume that we will have to let some employees go to some extent. And we are not interested in those who remain simply having to run faster. As a union representative, I would prefer that the government decide which of our services we should no longer provide," Niels Bønding told Akademikerbladet.

Niels Bønding, together with another union representative at the Royal Danish Library, Jette Fugl, has written an open letter to the Minister of Culture. They particularly note the minister’s emphasis on the importance of finding savings in “administration and case processing.” 

"No, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, the Royal Danish Library is not 'administration and case processing'. The library is a cornerstone of democratic education and is audience-oriented by its very nature," the union representatives write. 

The cutbacks correspond to a 9.1 per cent reduction of the Royal Danish Library’s current budget by 2030, they state in the letter. 

"In a time of major digital transformations and artificial intelligence, the Royal Danish Library must continue to be the central institution that both preserves the past and promotes knowledge of the present and the future. The question now is how Denmark will be equipped in the future to ensure the proper conduct of these key functions, faced with such a massive economic attack on one of the crown jewels of democracy," they write.

DKK 500 MILLION TO BE REALLOCATED FROM ADMINISTRATION TO RESEARCH 

In addition to the cuts to the Royal Danish Library, the self-governing educational institutions must collectively “reallocate DKK 500 million from administration to research” by 2030. 

AU states that there will be no reprioritisation of funds in 2026. The details of the reprioritisation will first be determined in the 2027 Finance Bill.

“To that end, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Higher Education and Science will carry out a series of analyses to identify possible task reductions and relaxations of requirements and regulations that could help reduce administrative workloads. The individual institutions – including Aarhus University – will be involved in these analyses, which are set to begin during autumn 2025,”  Aarhus University has announced. 

This text was machine translated and post-edited by Lisa Enevoldsen