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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 412. Collections, staff, and operating expenditures of college and university libraries: Selected years, 1976-77 through 1999-2000
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Collections, staff and operating expenditures   |1976-77\1\|1978-79\1\|   1981-82|   1984-85|   1987-88|   1991-92|   1994-95|   1996-97|      1997-98| 1999-2000
________________________________________________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|_____________|__________
1                                               |         2|         3|         4|         5|         6|         7|         8|         9|           10|        11
________________________________________________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|_____________|__________
Number of libraries ............................|     3,058|     3,122|     3,104|     3,322|     3,438|     3,274|     3,303|     3,408|        3,658|     3,527
Number of circulation transactions .............|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |   231,503|   230,733|      216,067|   193,948
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Total enrollment, in thousands\2\ ..............|    11,121|    11,392|    12,372|    12,242|    12,767|    14,359|    14,279|    14,300|       14,502|    14,791
  Full-time-equivalent\2\ ......................|     8,313|     8,348|     9,015|     8,952|     9,230|    10,361|    10,348|    10,402|       10,615|    10,944
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Collections, in thousands                       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Number of volumes at end of year\3\ ............|   481,442|   519,895|   567,826|   631,727|   718,504|   749,429|   776,447|   806,717|      878,906|   913,547
Number of volumes added during year ............|    22,367|    21,608|    19,507|    20,658|    21,907|    20,982|    21,544|    21,346|       24,551|    24,436
Number of serial subscriptions at end of year ..|     4,670|     4,775|     4,890|     6,317|     6,416|     6,966|     6,212|     5,709|\4\    10,908|     7,499
Microform units at end of year .................|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |    1,062,082| 1,111,389
Electronic units at end of year\5\ .............|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |       465|       983|        3,473|      ---
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Library staff, in full-time equivalents (FTE)   |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Total staff in regular positions\6\ ............|    57,087|    58,416|    58,476|    58,476|    67,251|    67,166|    67,433|    67,581|       68,337|    69,123
  Librarians and professional staff ............|    23,308|    23,676|    23,816|    21,822|    25,115|    26,341|    26,726|    27,268|       30,041|    31,001
  Other paid staff .............................|    33,779|    34,740|    34,660|    38,026|    40,733|    40,421|    40,381|    40,022|       38,026|    37,893
  Contributed services .........................|      --- |      --- '      --- |      --- |     1,403|       404|       326|       291|          270|       229
Student assistants .............................|      --- |      --- '      --- |      --- |    33,821|    29,075|    28,411|    27,998|       28,373|    26,518
FTE student enrollment per FTE staff ...........|       146|       143|       154|       153|       137|       154|       153|       154|          155|       158
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Hours of student and other assistance,          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
   in thousands ................................|    39,950|    39,552|    40,068|    28,360|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |         --- |      ---
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Library operating expenditures\7\               |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Operating expenditures, total, in thousands ....|$1,259,637|$1,502,158|$1,943,769|$2,404,524|$2,770,075|$3,648,654|$4,013,333|$4,301,815|   $4,592,657|$5,023,198
  Salaries\8\ ..................................|   698,090|   824,438| 1,081,894| 1,156,138| 1,451,551| 1,889,368| 2,021,233| 2,147,842|    2,314,380| 2,430,541
  Hourly wages .................................|    68,683|    79,535|   100,847|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |         --- |      ---
  Fringe benefits ..............................|      --- |      --- |      --- |   231,209|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |         --- |   271,954
  Preservation .................................|    22,521|    25,274|    30,351|    32,939|    34,144|    43,126|    46,554|    45,610|       42,919|    43,832
  Furniture/equipment ..........................|      --- |      --- '      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |    55,915|    56,128|       57,013|    63,459
  Computer hardware/software ...................|      --- |      --- '      --- '      --- '      --- '      --- |   128,128|   157,949|      164,379|   160,294
  Utilities/networks/consortia .................|      --- |      --- '      --- '      --- '      --- '      --- |    81,106|    85,113|       89,618|    90,264
  Information resources ........................|   373,699|   450,180|   561,199|   750,282|   891,281| 1,197,293| 1,348,933| 1,499,249|    1,600,995| 1,822,277
    Books and serial backfiles-paper ...........|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      514,048|   552,100
    Books and serial backfiles-electronic ......|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |       28,061|    33,888
    Current serials-paper ......................|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      849,399|   945,958
    Current serials-electronic .................|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      125,470|   203,371
    Audiovisual materials ......................|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |    23,879|    28,753|    28,879|       30,623|    32,039
    Document delivery/interlibrary loan ........|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |    12,238|    17,645|       19,309|    20,540
    Other collection expenditures ..............|   373,699|   450,180|   561,199|   750,282|   891,281| 1,173,414| 1,307,942| 1,452,725|       34,086|    34,381
  Other library operating expenditures .........|    96,643|   122,731|   169,478|   233,957|   393,099|   518,867|   331,463|   309,925|      323,354|   140,579
Operating expenditures per FTE student .........|       152|       180|       216|       269|       300|       352|       388|       414|          433|       459
Operating expenditures per FTE student in       |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
   constant 2004-05 dollars\9\ .................|       495|       504|       439|       487|       497|       488|       494|       499|          513|       520
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Operating expenditures, total, in percents .....|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|        100.0|     100.0
  Salaries\8\ ..................................|      55.4|      54.9|      55.7|      48.1|      52.4|      51.8|      50.4|      49.9|         50.4|      48.4
  Hourly wages .................................|       5.5|       5.3|       5.2|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |         --- |      ---
  Fringe benefits ..............................|      --- |      --- |      --- |       9.6|      --- |      --- |      --- |      --- |         --- |       5.4
  Preservation .................................|       1.8|       1.7|       1.6|       1.4|       1.2|       1.2|       1.2|       1.1|          0.9|       0.9
  Information resources ........................|      29.7|      30.0|      28.9|      31.2|      32.2|      32.8|      33.6|      34.9|         34.9|      36.3
  Other library operating expenditures\10\ .....|       7.7|       8.2|       8.7|       9.7|      14.2|      14.2|      14.9|      14.2|         13.8|       9.0
                                                |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
Library operating expenditures as percent of    |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
   total institutional expenditures for         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |             |
   educational and general purposes ............|       3.8|       3.7|       3.5|       3.4|       3.2|       3.0|       2.8|      --- |         --- |      ---
________________________________________________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|_____________|__________
---Not available.
\1\Includes data for U.S. territories.
\2\Fall enrollment for the academic year specified.
\3\Includes data for schools newly added to the survey system, so end of year figure exceeds total of additions plus end of year value from previous year.
\4\Includes microform and electronic serials.
\5\Electronic files, formerly labeled "Computer files."
\6\Excludes student assistants.
\7\Excludes capital outlay.
\8\Includes expenditures for fringe benefits (except for 1984-85 and 1987-88), salary equivalents of contributed services staff, and hourly wages for 1996-97 and 1997-98.
\9\Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
\10\Includes furniture/equipment, computer hardware/software, and utilities/networks/consortia as well as expenditures classified as "other library operating expenditures."
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Library Statistics of Colleges and Universities, selected years, 1976-77 through 1984-85; and 1987-88 through 1999-2000 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, "Academic Libraries Survey" (IPEDS-L:88-98) and "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:87-99); and Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), 2000. (This table was prepared February 2006.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest