New from ACRL: '2011 Academic Library Trends and Statistics'

CHICAGO — The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the publication of “2011 Academic Library Trends and Statistics,” the latest in a series of annual publications that describe the collections, staffing, expenditures and service activities of academic libraries in all Carnegie classifications. The three-volume set includes Associate of Arts institutions, Master's Colleges and Universities/Baccalaureate Colleges and Research/Doctoral-granting Institutions. The individual volumes for Associates Colleges, Masters/Baccalaureate and Doctoral-Granting institutions are also available for purchase.

The 2011 data shows that while the percentage of library expenditures for collection materials increased slightly over 2010, the amount spent on e-books increased dramatically. Baccalaureate schools increased their spending by an average of 109.5 percent; associate degree-granting institutions increased spending by an average of 109.2 percent; comprehensive degree-granting institutions spent 102.7 percent more on average; and doctoral degree-granting institutions spent 78.9 percent more for e-books in 2011. The percentage of the collection materials budget spent on serials decreased slightly for all types of institutions except baccalaureate schools where it remained unchanged from 2010. On average, doctoral degree-granting institutions spent 66.12 percent of their materials budgets for serials in 2011; comprehensive schools spent an average of 57.62 percent; baccalaureate schools spent an average 52.56 percent and associate degree-granting institutions spent an average of 33.87 percent.

Salary and wages expenditures as a percentage of total library expenditures increased slightly for doctoral and comprehensive institutions (by 0.94 percent and 0.98 percent, respectively), and slightly decreased for associate- institutions and baccalaureate schools (by 1.85 percent and 0.64 percent, respectively). Salaries and wages constituted 74.43 percent of total library expenditures for associate degree-granting institutions, 59.51 percent for baccalaureate 58.18 percent for comprehensive schools and 45.57 percent for doctoral/research institutions.

In the past year 12.8 percent of academic libraries surveyed lost square footage, 6.2 percent gained space and 76.7 percent experienced no change. In the next five years, 15.9 percent of academic libraries surveyed expect to lose space, 20.4 percent expect to gain space and 58.4 percent anticipate no change.

The 2011 survey includes data from 1,514 academic libraries in six major categories:

• Collections (including volumes, serials, multimedia);
• Expenditures (library materials, wages and salaries, other operating);
• Electronic Resources (including expenditures, collections, services, usage);
• Personnel and Public Services (staff and services);
• Ph.D.s Granted, Faculty, Student Enrollment;
• Faculty Rank, Status and Tenure for Librarians.

The survey also provides analysis of selected variables and summary data (high, low, mean and median) for all elements. The 2011 data can be used for self-studies, budgeting, strategic planning, annual reports, grant applications and benchmarking.

“2011 Academic Library Trends and Statistics” is available for purchase through the ALA Online Store or by telephone order at (866) 746-7252 in the U.S. or (770) 442-8633 for international customers.

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ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing more than 11,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians. Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments. ACRL is on the web at www.acrl.org, Facebook at www.facebook.com/ala.acrl and Twitter at @ala_acrl.