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.