THE PROPORTION OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARY INCOME WHICH SHOULD BE SPENT ON
ADMINISTRATION
The college librarian, like every other department head in the
institution, is anxious to spend as much as possible for the
development of his department and is consequently seeking to get
his appropriation increased as often as possible. It is usually
of assistance to him in securing the favorable attention of the
authorities to be able to show that the prevailing tendency among
institutions of similar rank is to do that which he requests in his own
case. Sometimes the librarian is asking more money for books, sometimes
more money for administration and frequently more money for everything.
While preparing an estimate for the authorities of our own institution,
I recently collected data from 25 representative college and university
libraries in different parts of the country and was interested to
compare the data and draw what conclusions I could from the examination
and from my own knowledge of the standard of accomplishment in the
respective institutions. All but one of these libraries have over
60,000 volumes. I was able to separate them into three groups with
reference to their book expenditures; those spending $5,000 a year or
less, those spending between $5,000 and $20,000, and those spending
$20,000 or more.
Six of the 25 libraries were in the first group, spending not to exceed
$5,000. In all of these the expenditure for library administration
exceeded that for books, in some cases by more than 100%. By amount
spent for library administration I mean the amount spent for salaries
and wages of persons employed in library work. In other words I mean to
include student assistants and to exclude janitors.
Twelve of the 25 libraries were in the second group, spending more than
$5,000 and less than $20,000 for books. Ten of these spent less for
administration than for books, one spent more and the remaining library
spent the same for administration as for books.
Two libraries in the group receive gifts of considerable sums each year
for the purchase of books, the buying of which is done through the
library so that for all purposes of comparison it is as though their
book funds were increased just so much. I have regarded the gift money
as equivalent to part of the book fund, although the actual payment is
made by the giver without its passing through the hands of the college
treasurer. Aside from these two, only one library in the second group
receives any great number of volumes by gift. The average number of
volumes received by gift is about one-third of the number received by
purchase. The proportion of income used for salaries ranges from 35% to
45% leaving out the two libraries above mentioned which spent 50% and
52% for salaries.
Seven libraries made up the third group composed of those spending
$20,000 or more for books. I omitted to obtain any figures from
Harvard, Yale or Chicago as they are known to be making extraordinary
expenditures at present in reorganizing or recataloging. Of the seven,
two spent less for salaries than for books, two spent the same for each
and two spent more for salaries than for books. The seventh library
like two of those in the preceding group has considerable sums placed
at its disposal each year for book buying but the disbursement is
made by the donor and not by the university treasurer so that exact
figures for calculating percentages are not available in its case. The
proportion of income employed for salaries by the other six ranges from
40% to 60%.
From this brief comparison of data it is possible to draw the
conclusion that with the smaller libraries a certain minimum of
administration cost is necessary in order to operate the library at all
and that this does not necessarily increase with the growth of the book
fund. Where the book fund is less than $5,000, it is no reflection on
the capacity of the librarian if his salary expense exceeds that amount
although it is evidently his duty to devote his principal efforts
to securing increased book appropriations. After the book fund has
passed the $5,000 mark, the librarian should be prepared to give most
excellent reasons for letting his salary roll exceed or even equal the
book fund in case his governing board should begin to make comparison
with the figures of other institutions. If his library is in what I
have called the second group and his salary expense exceeds 45% of the
total income, he ought to stand ready to show cause at short notice for
some one is likely to attract the attention of the president to the
fact any day.
If on the other hand his salary roll represents less than 45% of total
income, the librarian may well resist the suggestions of professors
to call for more book money and instead devote his annual appeals to
securing additional needed assistance and more adequate compensation
for the members of his present staff.
With the libraries of the great universities the case is different. An
institution that can spend upwards of $20,000 a year for books has more
complex needs and more varied activities than the smaller colleges and
universities. The quality of service demanded of the library is higher
and much less is forgiven by the ambitious holders of highly paid
chairs. The pressure of research work demands greater facilities for
the prompt purchase and cataloging of "rush" books. More accomplished
reference librarians must be had to meet the needs of clients in a
great institution with a large number of graduate students. Catalogers
of special qualifications must be provided to handle the books in
oriental and other languages not commonly encountered in the ordinary
college library. In the work of a large cataloging department there
is more opportunity for lack of uniformity to creep in, and the need
of accuracy in an enormous catalog is more vital than in a small one.
Therefore the work of the revisers has to be more painstaking and time
consuming than in a smaller collection where everything is simpler.
Reclassification of whole sections of books whose classification is now
out of date, must be undertaken. Bibliographies have to be compiled
for professors. The preparation of publications, like the catalog of
a special collection, is called for while the smaller library may
never print anything more extensive than a list of its Poole sets. The
duties of the shelf department in a great library are more complicated
than many persons dream of and in all the departments fuller and
more accurate records are needed. More extended routine in the order
department is required in order to prevent unintentional duplication.
Messenger service for the delivery of books in response to telephone
calls from other buildings may be furnished. The maintenance of an
efficient exchange bureau is needed in order to conduct the exchange of
university publications with the innumerable minor learned societies
all over the world. These publications are often called for in the
great universities, although one could not reasonably expect to find
them in the lesser institutions.
In fact for many reasons the proportion of income required for
administration in libraries of the first rank increases with the size
of the collection itself. It is a fair inference therefore that a
university library with a book fund of more than $20,000 a year is
justified in maintaining a pay roll in excess of that sum without fear
of criticism.
The committee on nominations, reporting through Dr. W. K. Jewett,
chairman, recommended that the by-laws of the Section be so amended
that, instead of electing a chairman and a secretary each year as
heretofore, a committee on arrangements consisting of three members be
elected, the one first named by the committee this year to serve for
one year, the second to serve two years, and the third to serve three
years; one member to retire each year hereafter and his successor to be
then elected for a three year term.
On motion the recommendation was approved unanimously.
The committee then recommended that the following persons be elected as
the committee on arrangements: Mr. Andrew Keogh, Mr. N. L. Goodrich,
and Miss Sarah B. Askew. On motion the recommendation was adopted and
the three declared elected. The session then adjourned.