Table 701.40.

Collections, staff, and operating expenditures of degree-granting postsecondary institution libraries: Selected years, 1981-82 through 2011-12

Collections, staff, and operating expenditures	1981-82		1987-88	1991-92	1997-98	2001-02	2005-06	2007-08	2009-10	2011-12
										Total	Public	Private nonprofit	Private for-profit
1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Number of libraries	3,104		3,438	3,274	3,658	3,568	3,617	3,827	3,689	3,793	1,560	1,461	772
Percentage of institutions with libraries	—		—	—	90.0	85.0	84.6	87.9	82.1	80.6	94.6	88.4	55.0
Number of circulation transactions (in thousands)	—		—	—	216,067	189,248	187,236	178,766	176,736	154,409	99,897	51,930	2,582
Number of circulation transactions per full-time-       equivalent (FTE) student	—		—	—	20	16	14	13	11	10	9	16	2
Enrollment (in thousands)
Total enrollment1	12,372		12,767	14,359	14,502	15,928	17,487	18,248	20,428	20,994	15,110	3,927	1,957
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment1	9,015		9,230	10,361	10,615	11,766	13,201	13,783	15,496	15,886	10,949	3,321	1,616
Collections (in thousands)
Number of volumes at end of year	567,826		718,504	749,429	878,906	954,030	1,015,658	1,052,531	1,076,027	1,099,951	669,521	424,671	5,760
Number of volumes added during year	19,507		21,907	20,982	24,551	24,574	22,241	23,990	27,164	27,605	17,134	9,984	488
Number of serial subscriptions at end of year2	4,890		6,416	6,966	10,908	9,855	16,361	25,342	25,041	—	—	—	—
Microform units at end of year	—		—	—	1,062,082	1,143,678	1,166,295	1,157,365	1,124,941	1,044,521	705,525	337,405	1,591
E-books at end of year	—		—	—	—	10,318	64,366	102,502	158,652	252,599	136,181	102,413	14,006
Number of volumes per full-time-equivalent (FTE)       student	63		78	72	83	81	77	76	69	69	61	128	4
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) library staff
Total staff in regular positions3	58,476		67,251	67,166	68,337	69,526	69,615	69,328	66,562	65,242	39,776	23,770	1,696
Librarians and professional staff	23,816		25,115	26,341	30,041	32,053	33,265	34,520	34,147	34,423	19,601	13,382	1,440
Other paid staff	34,660		40,733	40,421	38,026	37,473	36,350	34,808	32,415	30,819	20,175	10,388	256
Contributed services	—		1,403	404	270	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Student assistants	—		33,821	29,075	28,373	25,305	23,976	24,110	22,382	20,509	11,288	8,498	724
FTE student enrollment per FTE staff member	154		137	154	155	169	190	199	233	243	275	140	953
Library operating expenditures4
Total operating expenditures (in thousands       of current dollars)	$1,943,769		$2,770,075	$3,648,654	$4,592,657	$5,416,716	$6,234,192	$6,785,542	$6,829,108	$7,008,114	$4,077,793	$2,803,864	$126,457
Salaries and wages	914,379	5	1,451,551	1,889,368	2,314,380	2,753,404	3,102,561	3,342,082	3,401,649	3,443,831	2,060,066	1,308,607	75,158
Student hourly wages	100,847		(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )
Fringe benefits	167,515		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Furniture/equipment	—		—	—	57,013	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Computer hardware/software	—		—	—	164,379	155,791	153,002	158,698	142,652	143,660	90,583	51,050	2,028
Bibliographic utilities/networks/consortia	—		—	—	89,618	92,242	106,268	113,427	117,838	123,650	71,925	50,694	1,031
Information resources	591,550		925,425	1,240,419	1,643,914	1,990,989	2,375,485	2,663,082	2,680,298	2,790,039	1,572,279	1,172,378	45,383
Books and serial backfiles—paper	—		—	—	514,048	563,007	572,228	611,192	515,942	503,851	248,460	244,454	10,938
Books and serial backfiles—electronic	—		—	—	28,061	44,792	93,778	133,586	152,359	180,570	100,553	74,724	5,292
Current serials—paper	—		—	—	849,399	926,105	830,137	699,906	536,357	487,265	272,219	207,707	7,339
Current serials—electronic	—		—	—	125,470	297,657	691,585	1,004,393	1,249,726	1,436,671	856,062	562,111	18,498
Audiovisual materials	—		—	23,879	30,623	37,041	39,029	43,849	55,659	37,022	19,486	15,609	1,926
Document delivery/interlibrary loan	—		—	—	19,309	22,913	26,513	30,496	33,679	32,490	20,069	11,768	652
Preservation	30,351		34,144	43,126	42,919	46,499	41,102	41,591	31,212	26,838	14,382	12,392	63
Other collection expenditures	561,199		891,281	1,173,414	34,086	52,976	81,113	98,069	105,364	85,334	41,047	43,612	675
Other library operating expenditures	169,478		393,099	518,867	323,354	424,290	496,877	508,253	486,672	506,934	282,941	221,136	2,857
Operating expenditures per full-time-equivalent (FTE) student
In current dollars	216		300	352	433	460	472	492	441	441	372	844	78
In constant 2014-15 dollars7	542		613	603	633	611	562	550	481	459	387	878	81
Information resource expenditures per FTE student
In current dollars	66		100	120	155	169	180	193	173	176	144	353	28
In constant 2014-15 dollars7	165		205	205	227	225	214	216	189	183	149	367	29
Operating expenditures (percentage distribution)	100.0		100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Salaries and wages	47.0		52.4	51.8	50.4	50.8	49.8	49.3	49.8	49.1	50.5	46.7	59.4
Student hourly wages	5.2		(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )	(6 )
Fringe benefits	8.6		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Preservation	1.6		1.2	1.2	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.1
Information resources	28.9		32.2	32.8	34.9	35.9	37.4	38.6	38.8	39.4	38.2	41.4	35.8
Other8	8.7		14.2	14.2	13.8	12.4	12.1	11.5	10.9	11.0	10.9	11.5	4.7
Library operating expenditures as a percent of       total institutional expenditures for       educational and general purposes	3.5		3.2	3.0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

—Not available.

1 Fall enrollment for the academic year specified.

2 For 1997-98 and later years, includes microform and electronic serials.

3 Excludes student assistants.

4 Excludes capital outlay.

5 Includes salary equivalents of contributed services staff.

6 Included under salaries and wages.

7 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.

8 Includes furniture/equipment, computer hardware/software, and bibliographic utilities/networks/consortia as well as expenditures classified as "other library operating expenditures."

NOTE: Data through 1995 are for institutions of higher education, while later data are for degree-granting institutions. Degree-granting institutions grant associate’s or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. The degree-granting classification is very similar to the earlier higher education classification, but it includes more 2-year colleges and excludes a few higher education institutions that did not grant degrees. 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, 1981-82; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), "Academic Libraries Survey" (IPEDS-L:88-98), "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:87-98), and IPEDS Spring 2002 through Spring 2012, Enrollment component; Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), 2000 through 2012. (This table was prepared May 2016.)