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Academic Libraries: 2008
NCES 2010-348
December 2009


Table 6. Number of volumes, units, and subscriptions added during the Fiscal year at academic libraries, by control, level, size, and Carnegie classification of institution: Fiscal year 2008

Institutional characteristic Total number of libraries Books, serial backfiles, and other paper materials, including government documents
E-books Microform units Current serial subscriptions Audiovisual materials units Electronic reference sources and aggregation services1
All U.S. academic libraries 3,827 23,990,187 20,021,312 6,997,677 3,462,722 3,399,654 610,916
               
Control               
Public  1,576 14,355,746 11,692,097 4,523,843 2,006,276 1,880,932 296,021
Private  2,251 9,634,441 8,329,215 2,473,834 1,456,446 1,518,722 314,895
               
Level2               
Total 4-year and above  2,393 21,702,698 17,434,555 6,782,827 3,276,163 3,063,353 564,418
Doctor’s  721 15,946,933 11,351,359 5,297,377 2,247,726 2,377,869 221,191
Master’s  911 4,012,279 3,481,727 949,507 650,572 449,789 206,786
Bachelor’s  730 1,656,709 2,564,416 423,722 368,791 232,000 134,006
Less than 4-year  1,434 2,287,489 2,586,757 214,850 186,559 336,301 46,498
               
Size (FTE enrollment)3               
Less than 1,000  1,455 1,872,908 1,604,409 307,778 228,612 186,467 173,585
1,000 to 2,999  1,136 3,425,661 3,793,855 799,762 727,114 427,077 155,097
3,000 to 4,999  475 1,759,127 1,663,576 442,159 274,589 230,997 46,178
5,000 to 9,999  405 3,116,449 2,193,908 768,321 559,450 358,331 64,418
10,000 to 19,999  238 5,332,088 4,663,669 1,487,104 732,120 622,251 139,248
20,000 or more  118 8,483,954 6,101,895 3,192,553 940,837 1,574,531 32,390
               
Carnegie classification2               
Doctoral/Research  275 13,280,021 9,466,385 4,375,500 1,765,799 2,148,730 176,059
Master's I and II  603 3,996,717 3,575,885 1,419,404 715,185 373,509 126,930
Baccalaureate  557 2,501,524 2,912,190 649,010 489,118 256,402 121,294
Baccalaureate/Associates  96 140,864 302,104 28,705 24,560 17,489 3,567
Associates  1,474 2,465,825 2,869,892 226,438 195,494 365,166 43,495
Specialized  645 1,460,130 845,622 293,437 253,082 228,293 117,853
Not classified  177 145,106 49,234 5,183 19,484 10,065 21,718
1 "Electronic reference sources, and aggregation services" include citation indexes and abstracts; full-text reference sources (e.g., encyclopedias, almanacs, biographical and statistical sources and other quick fact-finding sources); full-text journal and periodical article collection services (e.g., EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Academic Universe, and INFOTRAC OneFile); dissertation and conference proceedings databases. Licensed electronic resources also include those databases that institutions mount locally.
2 While "level" and "Carnegie classification" are similar, there is not complete overlap in the two classifications. "Level" refers to the highest level of any degree offered by the institution. The "Carnegie classification" is based on criteria such as institutional mission and research funding in addition to highest level of degree awarded. The Carnegie classification was developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and published in A Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, 2005 Edition.
3 Full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment is calculated by adding one-third of part-time enrollment to full-time enrollment.
NOTE: The number of doctoral, master's, and bachelor's level institutions does not sum to the total number of 4-year and above institutions because there are 4-year and above institutions that grant "other" degrees and are thus not included in the breakdown.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), 2008.