Table 701.40.

Collections, staff, and operating expenditures of degree-granting postsecondary institution libraries: Selected years, 2001-02 through 2019-20

Collections, staff, and operating expenditures	2001-02	2011-12	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19				2019-20
							Total	Public	Private nonprofit	Private for-profit	Total	Public	Private nonprofit	Private for-profit
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Number of libraries	3,568	3,793	4,134	3,999	3,944	3,710	3,697	1,560	1,584	553	3,654	1,551	1,565	538
Percentage of institutions with libraries	85.0	80.6	90.2	91.7	91.4	91.8	92.8	96.0	95.4	79.3	93.0	97.7	95.4	76.4
Number of circulation transactions (in thousands)	189,248	154,409	917,510	778,357	772,169	686,262	700,352	439,905	202,081	58,366	1,028,996	598,187	349,350	81,459
Physical transactions	---	---	81,182	67,796	58,199	52,832	46,054	27,827	17,746	481	31,405	18,186	12,868	350
Electronic transactions	---	---	836,328	710,561	713,970	633,430	654,298	412,078	184,336	57,885	997,592	580,001	336,482	81,108
Number of circulation transactions per full-time-    equivalent (FTE) student	16	10	60	52	52	46	47	42	58	78	70	57	99	107
Enrollment (in thousands)
Total enrollment1	15,928	20,994	20,209	19,988	19,847	19,778	19,651	14,539	4,132	980	19,630	14,504	4,135	991
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment1	11,766	15,886	15,263	15,079	14,938	14,884	14,786	10,525	3,514	747	14,762	10,487	3,517	758
Collections (in thousands)
Total number of physical and electronic materials    (books, media, and databases)	---	---	2,128,233	1,985,142	2,208,941	2,218,419	2,567,446	1,383,260	954,287	229,899	2,746,699	1,457,560	1,061,389	227,750
Number of books	---	---	1,711,851	1,573,341	1,650,727	1,637,365	1,798,225	954,827	728,027	115,371	1,956,845	1,030,040	814,142	112,663
Physical books	---	---	1,036,223	824,767	799,192	752,950	731,008	433,845	294,568	2,595	728,004	435,246	290,243	2,515
Electronic books	10,318	252,599	675,629	748,575	851,536	884,414	1,067,217	520,982	433,459	112,776	1,228,841	594,794	523,899	110,148
Number of media (includes audiovisual materials)	---	---	411,822	410,274	557,267	579,814	767,710	427,769	225,722	114,220	788,307	426,959	246,581	114,767
Physical media	---	---	253,826	190,049	194,763	179,406	166,706	113,919	52,520	267	159,066	107,479	51,203	384
Electronic media	---	---	157,996	220,225	362,505	400,409	601,005	313,850	173,201	113,953	629,241	319,480	195,378	114,383
Number of databases (electronic only)	---	---	4,560	1,527	947	1,240	1,511	665	538	309	1,547	562	666	320
Number of volumes at end of year	954,030	1,099,951	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Number of volumes added during year	24,574	27,605	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Number of serial subscriptions at end of year2	9,855	---	---	222,010	289,411	291,825	395,521	115,435	152,048	128,038	396,341	134,375	130,264	131,702
Physical serial subscription	---	---	---	23,578	21,850	23,552	21,096	13,167	7,831	99	21,734	13,537	8,082	115
E-serial subscription	---	---	---	198,432	267,561	268,273	374,425	102,268	144,217	127,939	374,607	120,837	122,183	131,587
Microform units at end of year	1,143,678	1,044,521	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Number of volumes per full-time-equivalent (FTE)    student	81	69	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Number of books per full-time-equivalent (FTE)    student	---	---	112	104	111	110	122	91	207	154	133	98	231	149
Full-time-equivalent (FTE) library staff
Total staff in regular positions3	69,526	65,242	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Librarians and professional staff	32,053	34,423	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Other paid staff	37,473	30,819	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Contributed services	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Student assistants	25,305	20,509	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
FTE student enrollment per FTE staff member	169	243	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Library operating expenditures4
Total operating expenditures (in thousands of    current dollars)	$5,370,217	$6,981,276	$7,957,153	$8,085,556	$8,243,595	$8,317,493	$8,386,070	$4,936,986	$3,373,790	$75,294	$8,322,052	$4,930,094	$3,318,079	$73,879
Salaries and wages5	2,753,404	3,443,831	3,422,050	3,455,940	3,504,446	3,529,745	3,555,572	2,208,013	1,318,184	29,375	3,548,072	2,216,796	1,301,788	29,488
Fringe benefits	---	---	745,195	759,363	784,747	800,253	816,903	518,484	295,550	2,870	829,550	537,990	288,825	2,735
Computer hardware/software	155,791	143,660	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Bibliographic utilities/networks/consortia	92,242	123,650	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Information resources	1,944,490	2,763,202	3,016,495	3,083,854	3,126,900	3,160,687	3,196,130	1,800,932	1,361,620	33,579	3,184,815	1,804,193	1,348,080	32,542
Books, serial backfiles, and other materials	---	---	604,100	614,389	604,279	578,131	555,367	278,224	274,398	2,745	510,194	252,597	255,366	2,230
Books and serial backfiles—paper	563,007	503,851	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Books and serial backfiles—electronic	44,792	180,570	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Audiovisual materials	37,041	37,022	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Ongoing commitments to subscriptions	---	---	2,217,573	2,287,252	2,353,844	2,402,873	2,461,531	1,424,428	1,009,458	27,644	2,501,948	1,456,148	1,017,564	28,235
Current serials—paper	926,105	487,265	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Current serials—electronic	297,657	1,436,671	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Preservation, other materials/services       expenditures	---	---	162,484	182,213	168,777	179,684	179,233	98,280	77,763	3,190	172,673	95,447	75,150	2,077
Document delivery/interlibrary loan	22,913	32,490	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Other collection expenditures	52,976	85,334	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Other library operating expenditures	424,290	506,934	773,413	786,399	827,502	826,808	817,466	409,558	398,437	9,471	759,615	371,115	379,386	9,114
Operating expenditures per full-time-equivalent    (FTE) student
In current dollars	456	439	521	536	552	559	567	469	960	101	564	470	943	97
In constant 2020-21 dollars6	674	508	580	592	598	593	589	487	997	105	577	481	965	100
Information resource expenditures per FTE student
In current dollars	165	174	198	205	209	212	216	171	387	45	216	172	383	43
In constant 2020-21 dollars6	244	201	220	226	227	225	225	178	403	47	221	176	392	44
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	100.0	100.0
Salaries and wages5	51.3	49.3	43.0	42.7	42.5	42.4	42.4	44.7	39.1	39.0	42.6	45.0	39.2	39.9
Fringe benefits	---	---	9.4	9.4	9.5	9.6	9.7	10.5	8.8	3.8	10.0	10.9	8.7	3.7
Information resources7	36.2	39.6	37.9	38.1	37.9	38.0	38.1	36.5	40.4	44.6	38.3	36.6	40.6	44.0
Other8	12.5	11.1	9.7	9.7	10.0	9.9	9.7	8.3	11.8	12.6	9.1	7.5	11.4	12.3

---Not available.

1Fall enrollment for the academic year specified.

2If a single title comes in both paper and electronic formats, it counts as two subscriptions.

3Excludes student assistants.

4Excludes capital outlay. Expenditure data are reported only by degree-granting institutions with total expenditures over $100,000.

5Includes student hourly wages.

6Constant 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.

7Expenditures on information resources include expenditures on preservation.

8Includes computer hardware/software, bibliographic utilities/networks/consortia, and "other library operating expenditures" not individually listed.

NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Degree-granting institutions grant associate's or higher degrees and participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), 2000 through 2012; Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Spring 2015 through Spring 2020, Fall Enrollment component; and IPEDS Spring 2015 through Spring 2020, Academic Libraries component. (This table was prepared April 2022.)