1
National Statistics on Academic Libraries
Note: This document was compiled by the ALA Office for Research & Statistics in order
to help librarians put the local library into a national context. Most of the data used here
are from Academic Libraries: 2000 published by the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), see: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004317.
I.
How many are there?
NCES reports on 3,658 libraries in postsecondary degree granting institutions
in the U.S. (all libraries on the same campus count as one). Those institutions
can be described in several ways:



II.
Using the Carnegie Classification (1994 edition)
o Research I and II ..............126
o Doctoral I and II ...............109
o Master’s I and II ...............519
o Baccalaureate I and II ......598
o Associate of Arts ..............1,192
o Specialized .......................516
o Not classified ...................467
By type of control
o Public ...............................1,566
o Private ..............................1,961
By size of enrollment
o Less than 1,500 ................1,192
o 1,500 to 4,999 ..................1,051
o 5,000 or more ...................566
What services do they provide?
A. Collections
Libraries acquire and organize many types of materials (sound recordings,
videos, maps, globes, etc.), but the largest part of most library collections
is books and bound volumes of periodicals. The following pie chart
describes the size of those collections in academic libraries.
D:\106736202.doc
2
Academic Library Collection, 2000
6%
5%
17%
8%
Less than 10,000
6%
10,000 to 19,999
20,000 to 29,999
30,000 to 49,999
7%
50,000 to 99,999
100,000 to 249,999
250,000 to 499,999
20%
500,000 to 999,999
1,000,000 or more
13%
18%
B. Access to electronic materials
In recent years, academic libraries have changed their focus from
ownership of information resources in physical form to providing access
to information resources in electronic form. In 1999-2000, academic
libraries in the U.S. spent $205,000,000 on electronic serials and search
services. (12.5% of the 1,863,512,303) spent for information resources in
all formats.
Because of their interest in how information resources of all types are
being used, the Council on Library & Information Resources (CLIR) and
the Digital Library Federation (DLF) sponsored a study conducted by
Outsell, Inc., a research firm serving the online information industry. In
late 2001 and early 2002, Outsell conducted hour-long interviews with
3,234 faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students at nearly 400
colleges and universities, including liberal arts colleges and public and
private research universities. Respondents were asked where and how
they seek and use information for research, teaching, and coursework,
with a special focus on the role of the campus library in those activities.
When asked about information for research and teaching, both faculty and
graduate students reported using a mix of physical and online resources
with a large percentage of those online resources being available through
the library’s website. When asked, “What percent of your current
information needs for research that are available online are available
through your institution’s library website?” faculty and graduate students
answered as follows:
D:\106736202.doc
3
25% or less
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
17.5% of faculty and graduate students
20.2% of faculty and graduate students
16.4% of faculty and graduate students
43.2% of faculty and graduate students
When asked a similar question about information used for teaching,
faculty and graduate students found the following percent of needed
materials through the library’s website:
25% or less
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
25.7% of faculty and graduate students
19.6% of faculty and graduate students
10.9% of faculty and graduate students
40.3% of faculty and graduate students
Both graduate students and undergraduate students reported using both
physical and electronic resources for coursework. When asked “What
percent of your current information needs for your coursework is
available online are available through your institution’s library website?”
they responded:
25% or less
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
14.4% of graduate and undergraduate students
20.5% of graduate and undergraduate students
15.3% of graduate and undergraduate students
46.8% of graduate and undergraduate students
For more on this study see:
http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub110abst.html.
C. Access to materials owned by other libraries
Libraries borrow items they do not own from other libraries for patrons of
the requesting library. The table below indicates that the volume of this
activity has expanded recently in academic libraries. The 2000 figure is
83.3% more than 1990
Interlibrary Borrowing
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
D:\106736202.doc
4,199,269
5,304,680
6,344,154
7,512,105
7,695,279
7,695,703
4
D. Reference service
Since the early 1900s, librarians have been answering questions for
their users.
 In FY 2000, academic libraries answered 82,284,072 reference
questions.
There are indications from some sources that the numbers of questions
asked in libraries is decreasing as people learn to find information
themselves on the Web. But those same sources indicate that the questions
librarians get now are harder to answer and more complex as the Web is
used for the easy ones. Also, reference librarians often assist users in
organizing effective Web searches, sometimes using special software to
assist users online. Experts estimate that at least 75% of academic
libraries offer service at virtual reference desks.
E. Classes on locating information
Most library services are directed toward individuals, but libraries also
offer programming for groups of users. In 2000, academic librarians made
432,451 presentations about information resources and services reaching a
total of 7,503,005 students.
F. Places to work
The study described above under the heading “Access to Electronic
Resources” found that faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate
students spend more time in their offices and homes when accessing
information than they do in the physical library. However, research shows
that the physical library is still an important place on campus. For several
years, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has been developing a
method of assessing the dimensions of library service quality as perceived
by users through a questionnaire and analysis program called LibQual+.
Early drafts of the questionnaire had no items on the library as a place, but
on the latest version, used by 164 institutions in 2002 five of the twentyfive items are on that topic. The additions were made because the
researchers developing the program learned by interviewing library users
that they wanted the library:


A comfortable and inviting location
Space that facilitates quiet study.
For more on the study see: http://www.libqual.org.
D:\106736202.doc
5
III.
Who provides the service?
In 2000 the total full-time equivalent staff in academic libraries in the U.S.
was 95,665. The number and percent in each staff category is given below:
Librarians
Other professional staff
Student assistants
All other paid staff
Contributed service staff
Total
25,152
5,864
26,521
37,899
229
95,665
26.3%
6.1%
27.7%
39.6%
0.2%
100.0%
The median number of total staff per 1,000 students is 5.6. Institutions
offering the doctorate have a higher median, 8.5, while institutions offering
less than a 4-year degree have a lower median, 3.7.
IV.
What do academic libraries spend money on and how much do they spend?
The latest available figures from NCES indicate that the nations 3,527
academic libraries spent over $4.5 billion in 2000 (with a median of $326.48
per FTE student). The first pie chart below shows HOW those dollars were
spent
and the second pie chart shows how many libraries spend in
each of several budget ranges. The category "other" includes such items as
furniture and equipment, supplies, computers, and telecommunications.
Academic Library Expenditures (Type), 2000
13%
Staff
50%
Information Resources (collection & access)
Other
37%
D:\106736202.doc
6
Academic Library Expenditures (Size), 2000
7%
14%
9%
11%
Less than $50,000
$50,000 to $99,999
$100,000 to $499,999
$500,000 to $999,999
$1,000,000 to $1,999,999
$2,000,000 or more
18%
41%
V.
Where does the money come from?
Although some academic libraries do some fundraising from private sources,
the primary source of funding is the parent institution.
A note on sources:
Most of the statistics in the section come from the most recent biennial statistics from the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). These reports summarize data from all
degree granting, postsecondary institutions in the U.S. In addition to the national totals
shown here, the NCES report also provides summaries by state and other categories
including the Carnegie Classification. At the time this document was prepared the most
recent summary tables were for the academic year 1999-2000. The report is available at:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2004317.
There are two other sources that provide data regularly on academic libraries. Although
the data do not cover all libraries, they do cover many of the same topics as the NCES
reports, as well as additional data, and are often more up-to-date than NCES.
The Association of Research Libraries publishes ARL Statistics annually plus several
additional statistical series. ARL is a group of 124 research libraries, 99 of them
universities in the U.S. ARL Statistics contains basic descriptive data on each library as
well as summary tables. For additional information see:
http://www.arl.org/stats/index.html.
The Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library
Association, began collecting basic descriptive data from all academic libraries in 1998.
D:\106736202.doc
7
Not all libraries participate each year, but over 50% participated in the most recent data
collection (for 2002). The purpose is to provide results quickly for management
purposes, not to release state or national totals. Data are provided on each participating
library and summarized for each Carnegie Category. In addition to the basic descriptive
data, ACRL’s Statistical Summaries for Academic Libraries covers a special topic each
year. For additional information see: http://www.virginia.edu/surveys/ACRL/2001/ .
D:\106736202.doc