The Library Materials Budget

1
The Library Materials Budget

• WMRLS Basic Library Techniques Series
• Materials Selection and Collection Development
• Fall 2007

2
Review of Homework Questions

• What is your librarys budget for materials?
• Is this amount enough? Explain why.
• How would you justify an increase in your
  materials budget?
• How is your materials budget allocated (by
  category, childrens, adult, reference, or
  whatever other breakdowns you use)?

3
Types of Materials

• Books and related materials
• Large Print
• Books on Tape or CD
• Talking Books (thru Perkins School for Blind)
  http//www.perkins.org/btbl/ or toll-free
  1-800-852-3133.
• E-Books
• Media or AV
• Movies
• Videocassettes (VHS)
• DVDs
• Downloadables
• Music
• Audiotape
• CDs
• Other formats, like MP3, downloads, etc.

4
Types of Materials, contd

• Periodicals, on-hand and on-line.
• Online Databases such as Gales InfoTrac and
  EBSCOs Literary Reference Center.
• Newspapers, including ProQuest and NewsBank.

5
Acquisition To Have and to Hold

• Advantages
• Youre in control of getting and keeping it.
• If its in your library, its available.
• Its there till you (or a user) gets rid of it.
• Disadvantages
• The version or edition you have is fixed unless
  YOU pay for the update.
• On-site materials take up space, a precious
  commodity in most libraries.
• Ongoing maintenance - Weeding, repairing,
  shelving.

6
Access - Online

• Advantages
• Opens up new worlds and information.
• More titles dont require more library space.
• Resources are updated frequently.
• Group pricing, or free economy of scale.
• Drawbacks
• You are not in control.
• Titles or availability can change or stop.
• Different interfaces can be puzzling.
• Connectivity issues of computers, speed,
  reliability.

7
Access Temporary

• Lease, such as McNaughton
• WMRLS bookmobile and deposits
• Resource Sharing, e.g.,
• ILL OCLC,
• C/W MARS,
• Virtual Catalog,
• MassCat,
• etc.

8
What does Enough mean?

• Accomplish librarys goals, demographics and
  trends.
• Meet popular needs.
• Keep em coming back for more.
• State Aids Materials Expenditure Percentage
  Requirement.

9
State Aid Percent of Total Expenditures on
Materials

• Under 5,000 20
• 5,000 - 9,999 19
• 10,000 - 14,999 16
• 15,000 - 24,999 15
• 25,000 - 49,999 13
• 50,000 and over 12
• Citations MGL c.78 s.19B(5) and 605 CMR 4.01(5)
• MBLC Policy (Materials Expenditure) January 9,
  1997

10
Comparative Library Stats

• Definitions Per Capita, median mean
• MBLC data
• Printed Reports mailed annually.
• Data on MBLC Website (http//mblc.state.ma.us/)
  
• Public Library Data
• http//mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/publi
  c/index.php
• Data for other types of libraries
  http//mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/index.
  php
• Selecting specific towns or groups of towns
  http//mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/statistics/public
  /repfin/repfin06_complete_rep.pdf
• Public Library Charts http//mblc.state.ma.us/adv
  isory/statistics/public/index.php
• Peer Group Medians http//mblc.state.ma.us/adviso
  ry/statistics/public/reppeer/index.php

11
Library Chart from MBLC
12
Hardcover Book Prices
13
Materials Purchasing Power
14
Mass. Childrens Standards (2007)

• An annual budget must be designated for
  materials and maintenance of the children's
  collection. A portion of the budget shall be
  allocated for replacement and duplicate copies.
  Factors to be considered in budget allocation
  shall include
• the percentage of the total circulation
  consisting of children's materials,
• the need to expand children's services,
• the percentage of the total population who are
  children,
• the comparative cost of children's materials and
  adult materials,
• the necessity of replacing children's materials
  more frequently,
• the need to include new formats and technologies.

15
Standards for Public Library Services to Young
Adults in Massachusetts (MLA 2005)

• III. BUDGET
• A portion of the library budget must be
  designated for young adult materials. Evaluation
  of the usage patterns of the librarys entire
  collection, as well as a variety of statistics
  and output measures supplied by the young adult
  librarian, should determine budget allocations.
  The young adult librarian should have full
  responsibility for expending the young adult
  materials budget. When the public library also
  serves as the school library, arrangements must
  be made for reimbursements from the school
  department budget.

16
Advocating for the library materials budget

• Use data and charts, portrayed in easy to
  understand and attractive ways
• Appeal to targeted populations and groups, but
  must start with trustees
• Not just library folk speaking
• Support of education issue
• Civic pride issue

17
Library Use in Context

• Five times more people visit U.S. public
  libraries each year than attend U.S. professional
  and college football, basketball, baseball and
  hockey games combined.
• If library patrons were to pay the average
  sporting game ticket price of approximately 35
  per visit, libraries would generate more than 39
  billion in annual revenues.
• Source OCLC Report Libraries How they stack up
  www.oclc.org/info/compare/

18
Spending Tracking the Materials Budget

• Whose responsibility? Library Staff or Trustees?
• Selection must be responsive to needs
  distributed if advisable.
• Ongoing process - Track of total budget
  expenditures for State Aid .
• Wish-lists for extra-budget surprises or
  fundraising successes.
• Stretch your dollars - Coops and UPA.

19
Recommended Readings on Materials Budgets

• Farmer, Leslie S.J. When your library budget is
  almost zero. Englewood, Colorado Libraries
  Unlimited, Inc., 1993.
• Gorman, G.E. and Ruth H. Miller. Collection
  management for the 21st century a handbook for
  librarians. Westport, CT Greenwood Pr., 1997.
• Martin, Murray S. and Milton T. Wolfe. Budgeting
  for information access Managing the resource
  budget for absolute access. Chicago and London
  American Library Association, 1998.
• Martin, Murray S. Collection development and
  finance a guide to strategic library-materials
  budgeting. Chicago and London American Library
  Association, 1995.
• Warner, Alice Sizer. Budgeting a how-to-do-it
  manual for librarians. New York Neal-Schuman,
  1998.