***With apologies for
cross-posting***
PRESS RELEASE -
LISU ANNUAL LIBRARY STATISTICS 2002
Latest
Statistical Annual from LISU Reveals a Mix of Trends -Some Good;
Some Not So Good.
The latest
edition of LISU's annual compilation of statistics relating to
libraries has now been published. The 16th in the series, LISU
Annual Library Statistics 2002 comprises several sections covering
public libraries, academic libraries special libraries and national
libraries. There is also a section containing miscellaneous data on
publishing, including material price indices as well as a national
view of the most borrowed books according to figures from the Office
for Public Lending Right. The information on public libraries and
higher education libraries is extensive and reveals some interesting,
and a few worrying trends, some of which are outlined here.
Public
libraries
There is some
good news for public libraries this year with total UK spending on
public libraries increasing for the third consecutive year, to
£878m. Total library expenditure per head of population was £14.70,
an increase of 2.7% on the previous year. The public library continues
to be popular with 324 million visits made to public libraries in the
UK, representing 5.4 per head of population, in 2000 -
2001.
Perhaps less encouraging news is that only 10% of the total budget was
spent on books, compared to 15 % ten years ago. Overall, expenditure
on books has dropped by 15 % over the last ten years, without allowing
for inflation. This must inevitably lead to difficulties for medium
and long term planning and in sustaining a core aspect of service. In
a severe budgeting climate the materials fund can so easily become a
target.
There are a total of 119 million books in stock in public libraries,
and this represents a fall of 2% over last year. Of these, 87 million
are available for lending, with the remaining 32 million being for
reference or held in reserve collections. For the first time, stock
levels for the UK as a whole have fallen below two books per person.
Eleven million books were added to stock in 2000-01, and although this
represents an increase of 2.4% over the previous year, it is also 16%
less than ten years ago. Of these acquisitions 39% were adult fiction,
29% adult non-fiction and reference and 32% children's books. The
balance of acquisitions continues to move away from adult stock
towards increasing provision for children.
The decline in book issues which has been apparent since 1991-92
continues, with a drop of 5.7% in the last year to a total of 406
million. Issues are now below seven books per person per year, a drop
of 30% on the number recorded ten years ago. The falls have been
similar for all categories of books this year. For the first time,
less than 100 million children's books were issued during the year,
following falls in each of the last four years.
Investment in
non-book material has been noticeable. Though admittedly starting from
a low base figure, spending on sound recordings has increased by 63 %
over the last ten years, and that on video recordings by 234 % in the
same period. This may be viewed as public libraries responding to
changing patterns of demand.
The number of
traditional branches fell slightly last year to 4,610. Total opening
hours per week were also down slightly, although the major cuts
experienced in the early 1990s have not been repeated in recent years.
For the second year running, there has been an increase in the number
of service points open for 60 hours per week or more, which now stands
at 25 throughout the UK.
Income generation is becoming increasingly important and the amount
raised has risen by 12% in the last year, to £87m. Of particular
interest is the fact that for the first time, more revenue was
generated from the hire of audio and video materials than from overdue
charges and reservation fees.
Remarkably in the light of some of these figures, user surveys show
that satisfaction remains high, with the lowest rating being for the
range of materials available, and the highest being recorded for
staff. In 2000, 68% of adult visitors thought the range of materials
'good' or 'very good', compared to 66% in 1999. Book lending
remains the most popular activity according to adult public library
users, as 75% reported borrowing or returning books. However, only 58%
of visitors who were looking for a particular book, author or subject,
found what they wanted. By contrast, 22% of adult visitors said that
they came seeking information, and 76% of these found what they were
looking for.
Academic
libraries
The picture
for higher education looks a little more promising, but some of the
evidence has to be interpreted with care. Higher education library
expenditure per FTE student has increased by 2.3% in the last year
compared to a general inflation rate of 2.6%. As a whole, the sector
spent £99 per FTE student on information provision in 2000-01, an
increase of 5.8% over the previous year. Half of this was for serials,
32% for books, and 11% on electronic resources.
The average price paid for periodicals has fallen for the second
successive year, against the tide of increasing subscription prices.
The number of titles held continues to rise dramatically, by more than
25% in the last year. The greatest increase has been in the new
universities, where the rise has been more than 33%. This is likely to
be due, at least in part, to the increasing popularity of 'bundles'
offering large numbers of titles electronically, often at marginal
extra cost above the print subscription. It may even be argued that
these developments are 'distorting' the data to some extent.
Facilitating access to so many additional titles is offers advantages
but only if the titles are relevant to a local client base; perhaps
the electronic acquisitions model has yet to stabilise.
The number of library staff in higher education libraries continues to
rise, with an increase of 12% in 2000-01 to nearly 10,000. This is in
sharp contrast to the public library sector. Moreover, the
availability of services has increased with a further rise in average
opening hours. The average now stands at almost 79 hours per week. New
universities have the longest opening hours, and HE colleges the
shortest. Provision of IT workstations continues to develop. One
quarter of all seats in HE college and new university libraries now
have workstations, and in old universities the figure is 16%. There is
now an average of 43 FTE students to each workstation over the sector
as a whole, compared to an average of 76 five years ago.
There has been a further slight fall in visits to library premises
this year, down to 77 per FTE student per year. There is, however, an
increase in the number of issues per visit. This evidence suggests
that instead of visiting the library for reference use, people are
turning to alternative means of finding information, made possible by
an increase in the availability of remote access to services through
networks. Increasing familiarity with, and use of the Internet and
other electronic resources may also be a factor in the falling number
of enquiries per FTE student that are recorded. It may be argued,
however, that using these sophisticated sources to advantage needs
more, rather than less user support and that users are not getting the
full benefit from what is available. Performance evidence on the
electronic library is still evolving. The number of virtual visits and
data on remote use of electronic resources are not yet sufficiently
complete or reliable to include in the annual compilation.
Details
LISU annual
library statistics 2002: Featuring trend analysis of UK public and
academic libraries 1991-2001, Creaser C et al, 196 pages,
A4 half Canadian bound, ISBN: 1 901786617 ISSN 0967`487X, Price:
£35.00, (Postage: UK - nil, Europe - £3.30, Rest of World -
£5.50). Available from LISU Loughborough University, Loughborough,
Leics LE11 3TU, Tel: 01509 223071, Fax: 01509 223072, Email:
[log in to unmask] and through TeleOrdering.
--
*******************************************************
Dr Sally Maynard
Research Associate
LISU
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leicestershire LE11 3TU
*******************************************************
E-mail:
[log in to unmask]
Tel: +44 (0)1509 222179
Fax: +44 (0)1509 223072
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/lisu/lisuhp.html