College and Research Libraries By J A M E S H . R I C H A R D S , J R . Allocation of Book Funds in College Libraries Mr. Richards is librarian, Carleton Col- lege, Northfield, Alinn. A L L O C A T I O N of book funds to academic subject fields is still of widespread interest among college librarians. Theoreti- cal and practical reports have been pub- lished.1 In a study of recent practice in twelve colleges at the end of the year 1951- 1 Randall, William M. "The College-Library Book Budget." Library Quarterly, 1:421-435, Oct. 1931. Reeves, Floyd W. and Russell, John D. "The Ad- ministration of the Library Budget." Library Quarterly, 2:268-278, July, 1932. Hekhuis, L. "A Formula for Distribution of Library Funds among Departments." Library Journal, 611574- 575. Aug. 1936. Muller, Hans. "The Management of College Library Book Budgets." College and Research Libraries, 2:320- 326, Sept. 1941. Coney, Donald. "An Experimental Index for Ap- portioning Departmental Book Funds for a University 1952 some interesting new data were com- piled and are presented below. T h e three tables represent parts of three distinct phases of the allocation problem. T h e first shows the percentage of allocated funds allowed each department in each of nine college libraries. ( T h r e e of the twelve reported that they do not allocate.) T h i s then is a small cross section of what was being done in 1951-1952. T h e second table shows a new method for determining one of the factors significant in the allocation formula. Library." Library Quarterly, 12-422-428, July, 1942. Ellsworth, Ralph E. "Some Aspects of the Problem of Allocating Book Funds among Departments in Uni- versities." Library Quarterly, 12:486-494, July, 1942. Vosper, Robert. "Allocation of the Book Budget: Experience at U . C . L . A . " College and Research Li- braries, 10:215-218, July, 1949, Pt. I. T A B L E I P e r c e n t a g e o f A l l o c a t e d F u n d s A l l o w e d E a c h D e p a r t m e n t in N i n e A l l o c a t i n g C o l l e g e L i b r a r i e s D u r i n g 1 9 5 1 - 1 9 5 2 D e p a r t m e n t 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A r t 2 - 3 3 4 54 6 '12 5 . 0 7 4 - 0 3 3 - 3 2 5 . 1 0 6 . 6 5 2 9 5 B i o l o g y 5 - 2 4 3 3 i 5 4 4 8 - 4 5 ' 8 . 0 6 5 . 2 2 7 . 4 0 9 . 7 6 5 88 C h e m i s t r y 2 . 0 9 2 ° 7 5 4 4 4 . 8 7 4 - 0 3 3 . 0 8 7 . 0 0 2 1 . 2 0 5 88 C l a s s i c s 1 - 3 i 2 0 3 4 . 8 7 2 . 8 1 • 4 7 2 . 5 0 3 - 0 5 3 6 8 E c o n o m i c s 5 - 2 4 7 4 4 4 7 6 5 . 9 0 7 . 2 5 9 . 7 2 9 . 4 0 3 - 4 2 8 82 E n g l i s h 1 7 . 0 5 15 7 0 9 53 1 4 . 2 9 1 4 . 9 1 1 2 . 0 9 8 . 9 0 6 - 3 4 14 7 1 G e o l o g y 6 . 0 5 3 3 0 1 3 5 4 - 2 3 4 - ° 3 3 - 5 4 7 1 G e r m a n . 6 6 1 . 6 5 4 0 8 2 . 2 8 3 - 0 9 1 . 4 2 4 . 6 0 1 . 1 6 2 9 4 G o v ' t . & I . R . 4 . 5 0 7 • 4 4 4 0 8 5 - 1 5 4 - ° 3 9 . 0 0 9 - 3 6 2 . 6 9 8 82 H i s t o r y 4 - 5 i 19 0 1 12 9 4 7 . 7 6 1 0 . 0 8 9 . 4 8 1 4 . 8 0 5 . 8 5 8 82 M a t h . & A s t . 4 . 1 8 3 3 1 3 4 0 1 . 7 8 4 - 0 3 2 - 3 7 5 - 3 o . 5 6 4 4 i M u s i c 6 . 5 8 2 89 6 8 0 3 - 2 4 2 . 8 2 2 . 8 4 . 6 2 4 . 4 6 3 68 P h i l . & R e l i g i o n 1 4 . 4 5 4 9 5 14 98 9 . 4 8 7 . 2 5 7 - 5 8 8 . 1 0 7 . 1 0 8 82 P h y s i c s 2 . 6 2 2 . 0 7 4 0 8 2 . 4 1 4 - 0 3 1 . 1 8 3 . 1 8 3 - 7 2 5 88 P h y s . E d u c a t i o n 2 . 0 9 4 9 6 4 0 8 2 . 6 6 2 . 8 2 2 . 8 4 4 - 9 4 P s y c h . & E d . 9 . 1 8 8 2 6 4 7 6 8 . 6 9 1 0 . 4 8 1 2 . 8 0 8 . 8 0 8 . 7 2 5 88 R o m a n c e L a n g . 1 - 3 i 3 3 i 6 13 4 - 5 5 6 . 1 8 3 - 3 2 4 - 9 4 2 - 3 3 5 88 S o c i o l o g y 6 . 5 8 5 7 9 4 0 8 9 . 1 9 4 - 0 3 9 . 2 4 4 . 5 2 2 9 5 P e r c e n t a g e o f t o t a l b o o k 7 9 4 - 0 3 4 . 5 2 9 5 f u n d a l l o c a t e d 4 1 86 68 6 5 89 3 8 . 7 6 2 . 5 68 8 1 All colleges do not group their courses under identical departmental headings. It was necessary to take some liberties to separate or combine them into a uniform list. Where this was done an attempt was made to determine the proper pro- portions by studying the announcement of courses published by the reporting institution. OCTOBER, 1953 379 - T A B L E I I A v e r a g e C o s t o f B o o k s b y S u b j e c t F i e l d T o t a l N o . U n i t s A v e r a g e A d j u s t e d D e p a r t m e n t N e t N o . U n i t s N e t % o f C o s t N o . U n i t s C o s t T o t a l A r t $ 9 4 1 . 6 8 149 $6.32 a B i o g r a p h y I 3 4 - 4 2 47 2 . 8 6 3 - 7 7 B o t a n y 1 6 3 . 1 3 3 4 4 . 8 0 - 6 - 3 3 C h e m i s t r y 2 2 1 . 6 8 27 8 . 2 1 1 0 . 8 3 C l a s s i c s 1 1 0 . 6 9 27 4*. 10 5 - 4 1 E c o n o m i c s 2 9 7 . 9 0 86 3 - 4 6 4 - 5 7 E n g l i s h 4 2 3 - 5 5 135 3 - i 4 4 . 1 5 G e o l o g y 1 7 7 - 5 3 3 i 5 - 7 3 7 . 5 6 G e r m a n 7 6 . 9 0 17 4 . 5 2 5 . 9 6 G o v ' t . & I . R . 3 6 4 - 3 0 102 3 - 5 7 a H i s t o r y 5 4 5 . 8 4 110 4 . 9 6 6 . 5 5 M a t h . & A s t . 1 7 2 . 4 2 3 7 4 . 6 6 6 . 1 5 M u s i c 9 5 . 0 2 21 4 . 5 2 5 . 9 6 P h i l . & R e l i g i o n 1 6 6 . 6 1 4 7 3 - 5 4 4 . 6 7 P h y s i c a l E d . 9 4 - 2 5 24 3 - 9 3 a P h y s i c s 1 2 4 . 4 1 26 4 . 7 8 6 . 3 0 " P s y c h . & E d . 2 2 9 . 1 4 50 4 . 5 8 6 . O 4 R o m a n c e L a n g . 1 3 7 - 3 7 4 3 3 • x 9 4 . 2 1 S o c i o l o g y 2 4 7 . 2 2 63 3 - 9 2 5 . 1 8 Z o o l o g y 2 1 6 . 9 0 4 5 4 . 8 2 6 . 3 6 T o t a l $ 8 9 . 6 1 I O O . O O The third table shows the application of Table II and one other factor to the prob- lem in one institution. The result, in terms of dollars, was a combination of the formula and a reasoned, frank discussion of local emphasis, aims, and lacunae. The figures were "rounded off" in the process. a Because endowed funds determine the amount avail- able for Art and Government & I.R., and because Physical Ed. has negligible library use, allocations had no effect on these departments. Hence the factors were omitted for them and a readjustment became necessary. This will be true also of Table III. In this study a method was used to determine the average cost of books by subject field which it is believed offered some- what distinct advantages. In this method an analysis was made of net purchase prices paid by the library in the preceding year or two. Thus the cost factor was related directly to demonstrable needs specifically suited to one institution, while eliminating the disparity of discount schedules between subject areas likely to result when using list prices. A percentage factor was then evolved which appears in the last column of Table II. T A B L E I I I A l l o c a t i o n a t C a r l e t o n B a s e d o n C o s t F a c t o r a n d E n r o l m e n t D i s t r i b u t i o n . A v e r a g e F i n a l t-w E n r o l m e n t C o s t v e a g e P r e l i m i n a r y E x p e n d i - A l l o c a t i o n D e p a r t m e n t , „ d e x M e x C o s t A | , o c a t i o n , f I946-522 I952-3 A r t 3 B i o g r a p h y 3 - 7 3 3 - 7 7 3 - 7 5 1 2 9 . 7 5 1 2 1 . , 0 0 1 1 0 . 0 0 B o t a n y 2 - 3 4 6 - 3 3 4 - 3 4 1 5 0 . 1 6 151 • . 0 0 1 5 0 . 0 0 C h e m i s t r y 3 - 7 5 1 0 . 8 3 7 . 2 9 2 5 2 . 2 3 2 1 4 . 0 0 2 4 0 . 0 0 C l a s s i c s 1 . 0 8 5 . 4 1 3 - 2 4 1 1 2 . 1 0 95-, 0 0 1 0 0 . 0 0 E c o n o m i c s 4 - 4 9 4 - 5 7 4 - 5 3 1 5 6 . 7 4 2 3 8 . . 0 0 2 0 0 . 0 0 E n g l i s h 1 7 . 4 4 4 . 1 5 1 0 . 8 0 .373-68 4 3 i • . 0 0 3 9 5 . 0 0 G e o l o g y 3 . 8 1 7 . 5 6 5 . 6 8 1 9 6 . 5 2 x 5 5 ' , 0 0 I 7 0 . 0 0 G e r m a n 4 . 9 0 5 . 9 6 5 - 4 3 1 8 7 / 8 8 2 2 2 , .oo 4 1 4 5 . 0 0 G o v ' t . & I . R . 3 H i s t o r y 1 0 . 8 7 6 . 5 5 8 . 7 1 3 0 1 . 3 6 534 . 0 0 4 3 0 . 0 0 M a t h . & A s t . 5 . 5 6 6 . 1 5 5 . 8 5 2 0 2 . 4 1 J 5 7 . 0 0 2 0 0 . 0 0 M u s i c 6 . 7 0 5 . 9 6 6 - 3 3 2 1 9 . 0 2 145 . 0 0 1 7 0 . 0 0 P h i l o s . & R e l i g i o n 6 . 1 8 4 . 6 7 5 . 4 2 I 8 7 - 5 3 2 4 9 . . 0 0 18 5 . 0 0 P h y s . E d u c a t i o n 3 P h y s i c s 1 . 8 8 6 . 3 0 4 . 0 9 1 4 1 . 5 1 105, . 0 0 1 4 0 . 0 0 P s y c h . & E d . 5 . 6 6 6 . 0 4 5 . 8 5 2 0 2 . 4 1 2 7 8 . 0 0 2 0 0 . 0 0 R o m a n c e L a n g u a g e s 9 . 0 6 4 . 2 1 6 . 6 4 2 2 9 . 7 4 2 4 5 . o o 4 2 1 5 . 0 0 S o c i o l o g y 7 - 3 3 5 . 1 8 6 . 2 6 2 1 6 . 5 9 2 0 6 . 0 0 2 1 0 . 0 0 Z o o l o g y 5 - 2 2 6 . 3 6 5 - 7 9 2 0 0 . 3 3 2 1 6 . 0 0 2 0 0 . 0 0 IOO.OO 1 0 0 . 0 0 1 0 0 . 0 0 3 , 4 5 9 - 9 6 3 , 4 6 0 . oo{ 1 Not including any postage charges, i.e. this is entirely for books. 2 Includes postage pro-rated to each book purchased. 3 Omitted—see note, Table II. 4 In part "inflated" by special gifts of several hundred dollars on two occasions. 5 69.5% of all book funds excepting endowment and grant funds, and postage. For reasons in part peculiar to Carleton, the determination of the allocation pattern was initially based entirely on the cost factor (Table II) and enrolment distribution. Experimentally postage was also separated out of the entire book budget at the start. The preliminary allocation was then considered by the Faculty Library Committee in the light of the previous expenditures, 1946- 52, and the practice in comparable schools elsewhere as shown in Table /. Special circumstances affecting Carleton were discussed and a frank but admittedly subjective appraisal of the book collection entered considerations before the final allocation was formu- lated. 380 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES