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National Statistics on Academic Libraries
Note: This document was compiled by the ALA Office for Research & Statistics in order to help librarians put the local library into a national context. Most of the data used here are from Academic Libraries: 2000 published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), see: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004317.
I. How many are there?
NCES reports on 3,658 libraries in postsecondary degree granting institutions in the U.S. (all libraries on the same campus count as one). Those institutions can be described in several ways:
· Using the Carnegie Classification (1994 edition)
o Research I and II 126
o Doctoral I and II 109
o Master’s I and II 519
o Baccalaureate I and II 598
o Associate of Arts 1,192
o Specialized 516
o Not classified 467
· By type of control
o Public 1,566
o Private 1,961
· By size of enrollment
o Less than 1,500 1,192
o 1,500 to 4,999 1,051
o 5,000 or more 566
II. What services do they provide?
A. Collections
Libraries acquire and organize many types of materials (sound recordings, videos, maps, globes, etc.), but the largest part of most library collections is books and bound volumes of periodicals. The following pie chart describes the size of those collections in academic libraries.
B. Access to electronic materials
In recent years, academic libraries have changed their focus from ownership of information resources in physical form to providing access to information resources in electronic form. In 1999-2000, academic libraries in the U.S. spent $205,000,000 on electronic serials and search services. (12.5% of the 1,863,512,303) spent for information resources in all formats.
Because of their interest in how information resources of all types are being used, the Council on Library & Information Resources (CLIR) and the Digital Library Federation (DLF) sponsored a study conducted by Outsell, Inc., a research firm serving the online information industry. In late 2001 and early 2002, Outsell conducted hour-long interviews with 3,234 faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students at nearly 400 colleges and universities, including liberal arts colleges and public and private research universities. Respondents were asked where and how they seek and use information for research, teaching, and coursework, with a special focus on the role of the campus library in those activities.
When asked about information for research and teaching, both faculty and graduate students reported using a mix of physical and online resources with a large percentage of those online resources being available through the library’s website. When asked, “What percent of your current information needs for research that are available online are available through your institution’s library website?” faculty and graduate students answered as follows:
25% or less 17.5% of faculty and graduate students
26-50% 20.2% of faculty and graduate students
51-75% 16.4% of faculty and graduate students
76-100% 43.2% of faculty and graduate students
When asked a similar question about information used for teaching, faculty and graduate students found the following percent of needed materials through the library’s website:
25% or less 25.7% of faculty and graduate students
26-50% 19.6% of faculty and graduate students
51-75% 10.9% of faculty and graduate students
76-100% 40.3% of faculty and graduate students
Both graduate students and undergraduate students reported using both physical and electronic resources for coursework. When asked “What percent of your current information needs for your coursework is available online are available through your institution’s library website?” they responded:
25% or less 14.4% of graduate and undergraduate students
26-50% 20.5% of graduate and undergraduate students
51-75% 15.3% of graduate and undergraduate students
76-100% 46.8% of graduate and undergraduate students
For more on this study see: http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub110abst.html.
C. Access to materials owned by other libraries
Libraries borrow items they do not own from other libraries for patrons of the requesting library. The table below indicates that the volume of this activity has expanded recently in academic libraries. The 2000 figure is 83.3% more than 1990
Interlibrary Borrowing
1990 / 4,199,2691992 / 5,304,680
1994 / 6,344,154
1996 / 7,512,105
1998 / 7,695,279
2000 / 7,695,703
D. Reference service
Since the early 1900s, librarians have been answering questions for
their users.
· In FY 2000, academic libraries answered 82,284,072 reference
questions.
There are indications from some sources that the numbers of questions asked in libraries is decreasing as people learn to find information themselves on the Web. But those same sources indicate that the questions librarians get now are harder to answer and more complex as the Web is used for the easy ones. Also, reference librarians often assist users in organizing effective Web searches, sometimes using special software to assist users online. Experts estimate that at least 75% of academic libraries offer service at virtual reference desks.
E. Classes on locating information
Most library services are directed toward individuals, but libraries also offer programming for groups of users. In 2000, academic librarians made 432,451 presentations about information resources and services reaching a total of 7,503,005 students.
F. Places to work
The study described above under the heading “Access to Electronic Resources” found that faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students spend more time in their offices and homes when accessing information than they do in the physical library. However, research shows that the physical library is still an important place on campus. For several years, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has been developing a method of assessing the dimensions of library service quality as perceived by users through a questionnaire and analysis program called LibQual+. Early drafts of the questionnaire had no items on the library as a place, but on the latest version, used by 164 institutions in 2002 five of the twenty-five items are on that topic. The additions were made because the researchers developing the program learned by interviewing library users that they wanted the library:
· A comfortable and inviting location
· Space that facilitates quiet study.
For more on the study see: http://www.libqual.org.
III. Who provides the service?
In 2000 the total full-time equivalent staff in academic libraries in the U.S. was 95,665. The number and percent in each staff category is given below:
Librarians 25,152 26.3%
Other professional staff 5,864 6.1%
Student assistants 26,521 27.7%
All other paid staff 37,899 39.6%
Contributed service staff 229 0.2%
Total 95,665 100.0%
The median number of total staff per 1,000 students is 5.6. Institutions offering the doctorate have a higher median, 8.5, while institutions offering less than a 4-year degree have a lower median, 3.7.
IV. What do academic libraries spend money on and how much do they spend?
The latest available figures from NCES indicate that the nations 3,527 academic libraries spent over $4.5 billion in 2000 (with a median of $326.48 per FTE student). The first pie chart below shows HOW those dollars were spent and the second pie chart shows how many libraries spend in each of several budget ranges. The category "other" includes such items as furniture and equipment, supplies, computers, and telecommunications.
V. Where does the money come from?
Although some academic libraries do some fundraising from private sources, the primary source of funding is the parent institution.
A note on sources:
Most of the statistics in the section come from the most recent biennial statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). These reports summarize data from all degree granting, postsecondary institutions in the U.S. In addition to the national totals shown here, the NCES report also provides summaries by state and other categories including the Carnegie Classification. At the time this document was prepared the most recent summary tables were for the academic year 1999-2000. The report is available at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004317.
There are two other sources that provide data regularly on academic libraries. Although the data do not cover all libraries, they do cover many of the same topics as the NCES reports, as well as additional data, and are often more up-to-date than NCES.
The Association of Research Libraries publishes ARL Statistics annually plus several additional statistical series. ARL is a group of 124 research libraries, 99 of them universities in the U.S. ARL Statistics contains basic descriptive data on each library as well as summary tables. For additional information see: http://www.arl.org/stats/index.html.
The Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, began collecting basic descriptive data from all academic libraries in 1998. Not all libraries participate each year, but over 50% participated in the most recent data collection (for 2002). The purpose is to provide results quickly for management purposes, not to release state or national totals. Data are provided on each participating library and summarized for each Carnegie Category. In addition to the basic descriptive data, ACRL’s Statistical Summaries for Academic Libraries covers a special topic each year. For additional information see: http://www.virginia.edu/surveys/ACRL/2001/ .
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