Public library book budgets

Citation

(1999), "Public library book budgets", The Bottom Line, Vol. 12 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.1999.17012bab.003

Public library book budgets

Public library book budgets

Keywords: Finance, Books, Public Libraries, USA

Library Journal has put together the "LJ 100", a group drawn from the respondents to the 1998 first book buying survey. This group will provide annual data on budgets, circulation, and hot topics. Public libraries are projected to spend $766 million on books in FY99, out of a total US library book market of $2.2 billion. In FY98 budgets at these libraries were up by an average of six percent. Libraries serving populations under 10,000 posted the biggest gains, with average materials' budgets of $37,000 and book budgets of $29,000. Libraries serving populations of over one mission had average materials' budgets of $4.7 million and book budgets of $3.2 million. In these libraries, the average materials' budget was 17 percent of the operating budget, with 45 percent allocated to adult books, 9 percent to electronic products, and 9 percent to periodicals.