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FAST FACTS
C&RL News, November 2006
Vol. 67, No. 10
by Gary Pattillo
California collections
A statewide count of the university special collections in California, excluding libraries, comes to an estimated 150 million items. According to Marla C. Berns, director of the Fowler Museum at University of California-Los Angeles, “that includes art collections, anthropology collections, plankton collections, insect collections, botanical collections, you-name-it collections.” One example of a non-library departmental collection is the Moore Laboratory of Zoology at Occidental College, which has assembled 50,000 specimens of Mexican birds.
Suzanne Muchnic, “Some very special collections,” Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2006, www.latimes.com/news/education/la-me-125collections12sep12,1,744180.story?coll=la-news-learning. October 2, 2006
Reading and publishing in Australia
More than $1 billion worth of books are sold in Australia each year, book clubs are expanding, and visiting a library in Queensland is the second most popular cultural activity after going to the movies. The State Library of Queensland reports 40 million loans from Queensland libraries a year—the second highest in the country. In 2000 the Centre of Youth Literature conducted a national research project investigating the reading habits of young Australians. They found that 74 percent of all 10 to 18-year-olds say they like reading, and 64 percent report wanting to read more.
Kathleen Noonan, “The clubbing of books,” The Courier-Mail (Queensland, Australia), September 30, 2006.
www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,20491052-5003424,00.html. October 2, 2006
American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. The percentage of American Indians and Alaska Natives age 25 and older who have at least a high school diploma is 76 percent. 14 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree. 170,000 American Indian and Alaska Natives are veterans of the U.S. armed forces. The poverty rate of people who reported they were American Indian and Alaska Natives is 25 percent.
U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2006. www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/007489.html.
October 2, 2006.
Projections of education statistics to 2016
Between 2003 and 2016, continued increases are expected in the number of degrees awarded at all levels. The numbers for women in particular are projected to increase at an even faster rate. The number of bachelor’s degrees is projected to increase 22 percent overall (28 percent for women). The number of master’s degrees is projected to increase 35 percent overall (41 percent for women). The number of doctoral degrees is projected to increase 21 percent overall (31 percent for women).
W. J. Hussar and T. M. Bailey, Projections of Education Statistics to 2015 (NCES 2006-084). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/2006084.pdf
Gary Pattillo is reference librarian at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, e-maili: pattillo@refstaff.lib.unc.edu
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