The U.S. Department of Educations's National Center for Education Statistics has released Academic Libraries: 2006 First Look.
Here's a description from the announcement:
The Academic Libraries: 2006 First Look summarizes services, staff, collections, and expenditures of academic libraries in 2- and 4-year, degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The nation's 3,600 academic libraries held 1.0 billion books; serial backfiles; and other paper materials, including government documents at the end of FY 2006, and there were 144.1 million circulation transactions from their general collections. During the same time period, academic libraries' expenditures totaled $6.2 billion.
Here's an excerpt from the "Selected Findings":
Services
- During Fiscal year (FY) 2006, there were 144.1 million circulation transactions from academic libraries' general collection (table 1).
- Academic libraries loaned 10.8 million documents to other libraries, and borrowed 10.3 million documents from other libraries in FY 2006 (table 1). In addition to the interlibrary loans, academic libraries received 1.2 million documents from commercial services in FY 2006.
- During a typical week in the fall of 2006, of the 3,600 academic libraries in the United States, 31 were open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week (table 2).
- During a typical week in the fall of 2006, approximately 1.1 million academic library reference transactions were conducted, including computer searches (table 3).
Collections
- At the end of FY 2006, there were 221 academic libraries that held 1 million or more books, serial backfiles, and other paper materials, including government documents (table 4).
- The nation's 3,600 academic libraries held 1.0 billion books; serial backfiles; and other paper materials, including government documents at the end of FY 2006 (table 5).
- In FY 2006, academic libraries added 22.2 million books, serial backfiles, and other paper materials, including government documents (table 6).
Staff
- Academic libraries report 93,600 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff working in academic libraries during the fall of 2006 (table 7).
- Academic libraries reported 26,500 FTE librarians in during the fall of 2006 (table 7). Librarians accounted for 28 percent of the total number of FTE staff working in academic libraries during the fall of 2006.
Expenditures
- Academic libraries' expenditures totaled $6.2 billion during FY 2006 (table 8).
- During FY 2006, academic libraries spent $3.1 billion on salaries and wages, representing 50 percent of total library expenditures (table 9).
- Academic libraries spent $2.4 billion on information resources during FY 2006 (table 9).
- Academic libraries spent $94 million for electronic books, serials backfiles, and other materials in FY 2006 (table 10). Expenditures for electronic current serial subscriptions were $692 million.
- During FY 2006, academic libraries spent $106.3 million for bibliographic utilities, networks, and consortia (table 11).
