Table 701.40.

Collections, staff, and operating expenditures of degree-granting postsecondary institution libraries: Selected years, 1981-82 through 2014-15

Collections, staff, and operating expenditures	1981-82		1987-88	1991-92	1997-98	2001-02	2007-08	2009-10	2011-12	2014-15
										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	3,827	3,689	3,793	4,266	1,581	1,652	1,033
Percentage of institutions with libraries	—		—	—	90.0	85.0	87.9	82.1	80.6	92.2	97.5	98.8	77.4
Number of circulation transactions (in thousands)	—		—	—	216,067	189,248	178,766	176,736	154,409	939,702	456,462	226,604	256,636
Physical transaction	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	82,583	48,955	32,160	1,468
Electronic transaction	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	857,119	407,507	194,444	255,168
Number of circulation transactions per full-time-       equivalent (FTE) student	—		—	—	20	16	13	11	10	62	43	67	205
Enrollment (in thousands)
Total enrollment1	12,372		12,767	14,359	14,502	15,928	18,248	20,428	20,994	20,207	14,655	3,996	1,556
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment1	9,015		9,230	10,361	10,615	11,766	13,783	15,496	15,886	15,262	10,625	3,388	1,249
Collections (in thousands)
Total number of physical and electronic materials       (books, media, and databases)	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2,154,718	1,198,015	766,348	190,354
Number of books	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1,732,362	936,396	648,676	147,290
Physical books	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1,044,720	641,100	398,135	5,485
Electronic books	—		—	—	—	10,318	102,502	158,652	252,599	687,641	295,296	250,541	141,804
Number of media (includes audiovisual materials)	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	417,457	260,924	116,271	40,263
Physical media	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	256,458	198,167	57,538	752
Electronic media	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	160,999	62,756	58,732	39,511
Number of databases (electronic only)	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4,899	696	1,402	2,801
Number of volumes at end of year	567,826		718,504	749,429	878,906	954,030	1,052,531	1,076,027	1,099,951	—	—	—	—
Number of volumes added during year	19,507		21,907	20,982	24,551	24,574	23,990	27,164	27,605	—	—	—	—
Number of serial subscriptions at end of year2	4,890		6,416	6,966	10,908	9,855	25,342	25,041	—	—	—	—	—
Microform units at end of year	—		—	—	1,062,082	1,143,678	1,157,365	1,124,941	1,044,521	—	—	—	—
Number of volumes per full-time-equivalent (FTE)       student	63		78	72	83	81	76	69	69	—	—	—	—
Number of books per full-time-equivalent (FTE)       student	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	114	88	191	118
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) library staff
Total staff in regular positions3	58,476		67,251	67,166	68,337	69,526	69,328	66,562	65,242	—	—	—	—
Librarians and professional staff	23,816		25,115	26,341	30,041	32,053	34,520	34,147	34,423	—	—	—	—
Other paid staff	34,660		40,733	40,421	38,026	37,473	34,808	32,415	30,819	—	—	—	—
Contributed services	—		1,403	404	270	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Student assistants	—		33,821	29,075	28,373	25,305	24,110	22,382	20,509	—	—	—	—
FTE student enrollment per FTE staff member	154		137	154	155	169	199	233	243	—	—	—	—
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	$6,785,542	$6,829,108	$7,008,114	$8,029,080	$4,721,458	$3,218,735	$88,887
Salaries and wages5	1,015,226	6	1,451,551	1,889,368	2,314,380	2,753,404	3,342,082	3,401,649	3,443,831	3,453,222	2,125,726	1,290,596	36,900
Fringe benefits	167,515		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	755,728	460,459	291,058	4,211
Computer hardware/software	—		—	—	164,379	155,791	158,698	142,652	143,660	—	—	—	—
Bibliographic utilities/networks/consortia	—		—	—	89,618	92,242	113,427	117,838	123,650	—	—	—	—
Information resources	591,550		925,425	1,240,419	1,643,914	1,990,989	2,663,082	2,680,298	2,790,039	3,040,118	1,737,329	1,263,542	39,247
Books, serial backfiles, and other materials	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	607,990	318,853	284,071	5,066
Books and serial backfiles—paper	—		—	—	514,048	563,007	611,192	515,942	503,851	—	—	—	—
Books and serial backfiles—electronic	—		—	—	28,061	44,792	133,586	152,359	180,570	—	—	—	—
Audiovisual materials	—		—	23,879	30,623	37,041	43,849	55,659	37,022	—	—	—	—
Ongoing commitments to subscriptions	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2,236,083	1,316,308	890,388	29,387
Current serials—paper	—		—	—	849,399	926,105	699,906	536,357	487,265	—	—	—	—
Current serials—electronic	—		—	—	125,470	297,657	1,004,393	1,249,726	1,436,671	—	—	—	—
Preservation	30,351		34,144	43,126	42,919	46,499	41,591	31,212	26,838	32,459	16,668	15,722	69
Other materials/services expenditures	—		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	163,586	85,500	73,362	4,724
Document delivery/interlibrary loan	—		—	—	19,309	22,913	30,496	33,679	32,490	—	—	—	—
Other collection expenditures	561,199		891,281	1,173,414	34,086	52,976	98,069	105,364	85,334	—	—	—	—
Other library operating expenditures	169,478		393,099	518,867	380,367	424,290	508,253	486,672	506,934	780,012	397,944	373,539	8,529
Operating expenditures per full-time-equivalent       (FTE) student
In current dollars	216		300	352	433	460	492	441	441	526	444	950	71
In constant 2015-16 dollars7	546		617	607	637	616	554	485	462	530	447	956	72
Information resource expenditures per FTE student
In current dollars	66		100	120	155	169	193	173	176	199	164	373	31
In constant 2015-16 dollars7	166		206	206	228	226	217	190	184	201	165	375	32
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 wages5	52.2	6	52.4	51.8	50.4	50.8	49.3	49.8	49.1	43.0	45.0	40.1	41.5
Fringe benefits	8.6		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	9.4	9.8	9.0	4.7
Preservation	1.6		1.2	1.2	0.9	0.9	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.1
Information resources	28.9		32.2	32.8	34.9	35.9	38.6	38.8	39.4	37.5	36.4	38.8	44.1
Other8	8.7		14.2	14.2	13.8	12.4	11.5	10.9	11.0	9.7	8.4	11.6	9.6
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. Expenditure data are reported only by degree-granting institutions with total expenditures over $100,000.

5 Includes student hourly wages.

6 Includes salary equivalents of contributed services staff.

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 computer hardware/software, bibliographic utilities/networks/consortia, and "other library operating expenditures" not individually listed.

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) and "Fall Enrollment Survey" (IPEDS-EF:87-98); Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), 2000 through 2012; IPEDS Spring 2002 through Spring 2015, Fall Enrollment component; and IPEDS Spring 2016, Academic Libraries component. (This table was prepared May 2017.)