College and Research Libraries


Price Tag on a College Library 

Bv ANDRE N1TECKI 

THE ARTICLE "Price Tag on a Univer-sity Library" by Robert B. Downs 
and Robert F. Delzell1 prompted me to 
evaluate the cost of developing a college 
library. It seems to me very useful to 
have a financial appraisal of a new and 
small library, especially of a library that 
does not hold rare material or special 
collections. It appears correct to presume 
that there are hundreds of college li-
braries that fall into this category and 
hundreds more that will come into exist-
ence in the near future. Therefore, it is 
obvious that such an estimate can be 
helpful to a college administration plan-
ning a budget for its new library, to a 
college trying to increase its library col-
lection, or as a guide in insuring a li-
brary. 

For this study the library holdings and 
expenditures of two small colleges, Flint 
College of the University of Michigan 
and the Flint Junior College, were ex-
amined. 

Both Flint Junior College and Flint 
College are relatively young institutions. 
T h e Junior College was established in 
1923, Flint College of the University of 
Michigan in 1956. Their campuses are 
contiguous and though the library of 
each has built its own collection, they 
have been both under the directorship of 
James W. Pirie since 1 9 5 7 . In i 9 6 0 the 
two libraries were merged into one with 
a combined collection of 5 5 , 3 2 8 volumes. 

During its four years as the library of 
a single institution, the library of Flint 
College built a collection of 2 5 , 8 7 1 vol-
umes. 

T h e estimated cost of preparing the 
collection for use was $ 1 9 0 , 3 6 0 . 0 0 : 

1 CRL, X X I ( 1 9 6 0 ) , 359-361. 

Mr. Nitecki is Director of Technical 
Processes at the Flint College Library, Flint, 
Mich. 

Expenditure for books (25,-
781 volumes) 

Estimated value of gifts re-
ceived 1 9 5 6 / 6 0 2 

Total salaries for the techni-
cal processes department 

T O T A L 

$ 79,577.00 

36,466.00 

74,317.00 

$190,360.00 

At the end of 1 9 5 9 / 6 0 fiscal year the 
total holdings of Flint Junior College's 
library were 2 9 , 5 4 7 volumes. T h e esti-
mated cost of preparing the collection 
f o r u s e w a s $ 2 7 1 , 2 6 7 . 2 8 : 

Expenditure for books (29,-
547 volumes) $133,964.28 

Estimated value of gifts re-
ceived 1 9 4 2 / 6 0 3 ' 37,739.00 

Total salaries for the techni-
cal processes department 99,564.00 

T O T A L $ 2 7 1 , 2 6 7 . 2 8 

T h e merger of the two libraries cre-
ated a single collection of 55,328 volumes 
and an estimated value of $461,627.28: 

Holdings Estimated 
in volumes value 

Flint College of the 
University of 
Michigan Library 25,781 $190,360.00 

Flint Community 
Junior College 
Library 29,547 271,627.28 

T O T A L 55,328 $461,627.28 

T h e estimated value, was derived by 
addition of actual expenditures involved 

2 $6.24 per volume was used as an evaluation in esti-
mating the gifts received. 

3 Ibid. 

J U L Y 1 9 6 1 305 



in acquisition and processing with an es-
timated worth of gifts received. Since 
those figures represent the prices and sal-
aries during the years, it is advisable to 
estimate also the budget required to 
build a comparable collection in 1960. T o 
do this it is necessary to arrive at the 
cost of ordering, receiving, and catalog-
ing as well as the average price of books 
acquired during 1959/60 fiscal year. T h e 
cost of adding a volume to the existing 
collection is estimated as $9.63: 

Average price (after 
discounts) $6.24 per volume 

Cost of ordering and 
receiving 1.31 per volume 

Cost of cataloging (and 
end-processing 1.99 per volume 

Cost of material (cards, 
glue, etc.) .09 per volume 

T O T A L $9.63 per volume 

T h e above figures were the same for 
both libraries. 

Using these figures it is calculated that 

in order to replace the collection of 55,-
328 volumes in 1960 it would have been 
necessary to spend $532,808.64: 

Estimated cost of books (55,-
328 volumes @ $6.24 $345,246.72 

Estimated salaries4 and mate-
rials @ $3.39 a volume 187,561.92 

TOTAL $ 5 3 2 , 8 0 8 . 6 4 

T h e amount of $532,808.64 needed to 
build a collection in one year is $71,-
181.36 more than was actually spent to 
acquire the collection during the last 
eighteen years (actually spent by both 
libraries: $461,627.28.) 

Neither of the estimates takes into ac-
count the value of a physical plant or the 
cost of setting up an efficient operation. 
It is virtually impossible to estimate how 
much it would cost to train the staff nor 
how long it would take to accomplish 
the training. 

4 T h e staff includes two professional librarians, four 
clerical personnel and 20 hours of student assistants a 
week. 

A Staff Librarian Views the Problem 
(Continued from page 281) 

judge the library in terms of its staff. . . . 
If the professional library personnel are 
in some nondescript category, without 
clearly defined status, with no institu-
tional understanding of the contribu-
tions which they can make to the educa-
tional program, and placed outside, or 
made ineligible for, the usual academic 
perquisites and prerogatives, we can be 
. . . certain that the library is inferior, 
falling far below its potentialities. . . . 
T h e institution can pay its money and 
take its choice."13 

It does not seem feasible to advocate 
a blanket acceptance of college librarians 
as academic faculty members at this time. 

1 3 Robert B . Downs, " A r e College and University Li-
brarians A c a d e m i c ? " CRL, X V ( 1 9 5 4 ) . 10. 

T h e identity which most staff librarians 
would presently aim for is rather "any 
satisfactory status." That is, a status rec-
ognizing the close link between librarians 
and teaching faculty, a niche symbolizing 
honestly the education and achievements 
of the librarian as an intellectual person 
contributing substantially toward the 
total college program. It is a transitional 
stage looking forward to the day when 
the college librarian will in all cases, be-
yond a doubt, be as thoroughly qualified 
and esteemed as his colleague in the 
teaching ranks. It is a status which ex-
presses a positive idea, fruitful for the 
entire college world, saying "We, the 
academic community, base our evalua-
tion of you, the librarian, on what you 
are, rather than on what you are not." 

306 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S