What's in a Library? Comparing library holdings to the constituencies served Available to Purchase

While the analysis of inter‐institutional collection overlap has become the profession's current analytic “hoola hoop,” the correlation of book collection to curriculum has the “acrid stench” of tampering with purse strings, and is studiously avoided. However, the analytical comparison of library holdings to constituencies being served could provide meaningful insights related to priorities and practices. This article describes and illustrates a method for analyzing this relationship.