5
RESEARCH LIBRARY TRENDS
ARL Statistics 2004‐05 is the latest in a series of annual publications that describe collections, staffing,
expenditures, and service activities for the 123 members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Of
these, 113 are university libraries the remaining 10 are public, governmental, and nonprofit research
libraries. ARL member libraries are the largest research libraries in North America, representing 16
Canadian and 107 U.S. research institutions. The academic libraries, which comprise about 92% of the
membership, include 14 Canadian and 99 U.S. libraries.
Statistics have been collected and published annually for the members of the Association of Research
Libraries since 1961‐62, and the data are available through an interactive Web interface. Prior to 1961‐62,
annual statistics for university libraries were collected by James Gerould, first at the University of Minnesota
and later at Princeton University.1 These data, covering the years 1907‐08 through 1961‐62, are now called
the Gerould statistics.2 The whole data series from 1908, which is available on the ARL FTP server,3
represents the oldest and most comprehensive continuing library statistical series in North America.
ARL libraries are a relatively small subset of libraries in North America, but they do account for a
large portion of academic library resources in terms of assets, budgets, and the number of users they serve.
The total library expenditures of all 123 member libraries in 2004‐05 was almost $3.6 billion from that,
roughly $2.68 billion was spent by the 113 university libraries and more than $900 million by the
nonuniversity libraries. The pie charts below show how the two types of libraries divide these expenditures
differently.
University Libraries
Library
Materials
40%
Total Salaries
45%
Other
Operating
13%
Contract
Binding
1%
Nonuniversity Libraries
Library
Materials
7%
Total Salaries
52%
Other
Operating
41%
Contract
Binding
0.2%
1 Kendon L. Stubbs and Robert E. Molyneux, Research Library Statistics 1907‐08 through 1987‐88 (Washington, DC: ARL, 1990).
2 Robert E. Molyneux, The Gerould Statistics 1907/08 1961/62. (Washington, DC: ARL, 1986), http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/gerould/.
3 http://www.arl.org/stats/arlstat/mrstat.html.
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