Book Report 2001: The Budget Shifts

By Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 2/15/2001

Since LJ launched its book-buying survey of public libraries in 1998 (see 'Book Report: What Public Libraries Buy and How Much They Spend,' LJ 2/15/98, p. 106-110), the news has always been cautiously optimistic. True, circulation dipped somewhat among libraries surveyed in 2000. But many librarians reasoned that in the electronic age, with patrons old and new using libraries as a way to launch themselves into cyberspace, circulation was no longer the primary measure of a library's worth. In any case, since 1998, book budgets have remained consistently up at over half the libraries surveyed, with as many as 65 percent of respondents claiming that the money was rising.

This year's survey shows a shift in budgets, however. Though book budgets were up overall by a modest three percent, only about half the institutions contacted reported increases. (For the most part, respondents were the same 100 public libraries used in the two most recent surveys, distributed throughout the country by size and location, i.e., urban, suburban, or rural). Some 18 percent of respondents reported that book budgets had declined (many by only a small percent), but that figure in past surveys has always been under ten percent.

In most respects, the libraries surveyed seem to be in good shape. Not only is circulation perking up after last year's decline (though it is up only slightly, by one percent), but total budgets, including materials budgets, are evidently holding their own (see also 'The Library as Anchor,' LJ 1/01, p. 59-61). So what's happening with books? Echoing many of her colleagues, Concetta M. Pisano, Carroll Cty. PL, MD, explains her book budget's slight decline by observing, 'Monies were shifted from book budgets to nonprint budgets.'

In fact, when LJ's respondents detailed areas where expenditures had increased and where they had decreased, many of the changes had little to do with content. Instead, for the first time since this survey began, changes generally fell under the rubric of format. That is, the libraries surveyed are rapidly escalating purchases of electronic resources and audio/visual materials while deaccessioning (weeding) print reference, print periodicals, microfiche, music cassettes, CD-ROMs, and, in a few cases, some general nonfiction in print.

These findings are hardly surprising, but they do confirm that the shift toward electronic access, particularly online resources and services in the local library, is not only persevering but deepening. Perhaps most striking is the finding that in print, it's not just reference that is being substituted for its electronic counterpart. Indeed, several libraries reported that book purchases are falling in areas ranging from science to business to literary criticism because the same information can be found faster and more easily online.

What patrons want

Not only can it be more practical to substitute electronic resources for print, but it can go a long way toward addressing patron demand. In clarifying her library's decision to purchase more electronic resources, Marsha A. Case of the Jackson-Hinds Library System, Jackson, MS, began by pinpointing the administration's concern over declining circulation.

'We pulled statistics and found that circulation had declined at every branch for three years. During that time, the only thing that hit all the branches at once was the Gates project [Microsoft CEO Bill Gates's funding of computers in libraries; see also 'New Computers Bring New Patrons,' p. 134-138]. With computer terminals busy all day at every branch, and people at the reference desk asking, 'How can I find this on the Internet?' we simply decided to get the electronic products that were in demand.'

Only 34 percent of this year's respondents complained that the purchase of electronic products was cutting into funds available for books, down from 43 percent last year. Electronic products aren't necessarily pushing books off the shelves. They're being incorporated as just one more format that may meet different needs. But in areas where print works best, libraries are not backing off. 'In business, people want the timeliness of the Internet, but in medical they still want paper,' says Carol King, Denver PL. Concludes Case, 'Demand is strong for print in fiction, popular new nonfiction titles, Oprah books, and how-to, and that's where we are buying.'

Electronic substitutes

Like some print nonfiction, print periodicals have suffered a downswing in all but the smallest libraries (those serving populations under 10,000), and electronic resources have been substituted. 'We've been slowly getting rid of academic-style and scholarly periodicals,' says King, 'and obviously the timeliness of the Internet is appealing. In most cases, paper has been dropped in lieu of the identical electronic product.'

Unfortunately, such substitutions can sometimes be nerve-wracking. Observes Laura Lent, San Francisco PL, 'In many cases, we are now purchasing indexing/abstracting/full text to the same title (say, Time ) in numerous formats from numerous sources--hard copies, various online vendors, microfilm. There is nervousness about stopping runs of periodicals we own in favor of relying solely on leasing arrangements with uncertain costs in the future, and there is also the issue of being able to view material with graphics in its original layout.'

Nevertheless, Lent's library has stopped Moody's Manuals to buy FIS Online, dispensed with multiple copies of Books in Print as well as Contemporary Authors and the Thomas Register, eliminated hard-copy technical standards in order to purchase an index to standards online (ILI Standards Infobase), and dropped Congressional Information Service's Statistical Master File in paper in favor of online access. It's a safe bet that future surveys will find more libraries making such switches.

E-books, anyone?

With online resources so popular in today's public library, can e-books be far behind? In fact, libraries are just beginning to enter these waters. More than two out of three of LJ's respondents have yet to purchase e-books, and those who have clearly feel that they are at the beginning of a long voyage.

'It has been a learning experience on both sides,' observes Joe Anne Shapiro, Brooklyn PL, of her institution's experience with netLibrary. Initial results were not entirely stellar. 'Out of 1500 books, many of which we would not have bought, we got 400 circs, with computer books and books on building relationships the most popular.'

Despite the slow start, BPL plans to sign up again next year--though not through a statewide consortium being organized for that purpose. The consortium would furnish only 'one copy of a book across the state that could be checked out,' moans Shapiro. 'For the same amount of money, we will buy in four crucial areas: Cliff Notes, computer guides, job interview books, and 'Idiot's' guides. I think the response would have been better if we had publicized it more, which we will do next year.'

King, who explains that Denver PL was fortunate to have served as a testing ground for netLibrary, agrees that e-books can't go far without a little publicity. 'We did not get the interest [in netLibrary] we would have liked,' she reveals, pointing out that at her library, there was little enthusiasm for e-books in general except when Stephen King's Riding the Bullet made its appearance. 'But next year we will put MARC records [which netLibrary provides] in our cataloging, so that electronic and paper books appear together. The University of Colorado at Boulder did that and got a huge increase in interest.'

Libraries like Denver and Brooklyn are obviously committed to investigating the e-book phenomenon, and others are following suit; one-third of the libraries in LJ's survey that had not yet bought e-books state that they intend to do so within a year. 'If people gravitate toward e-books, we will be there in the fray,' asserts Ernie DiMattia, president of Ferguson Library, in Stamford, CT, which has already amassed a large and successful netLibrary e-book collection that circulates about 200 titles a month. 'It's important for libraries to get in on the ground floor.'

What's hot, what's not

When library patrons aren't searching online, what are they reading? Circulation statistics show that as in years past, medicine, arts and crafts, biography, history, and travel dominate in nonfiction. Notably, however, travel has fallen a few notches since last year (perhaps due to the wide availability of travel information online), while arts and crafts has risen nearly to the top.

In fact, when asked what areas of how-to have been generating increased patron demand, LJ's respondents put arts and crafts far ahead of those perennial favorites cooking and gardening. Collecting, too, is popular, aided by series like Antiques Road Show and the advent of eBay. But the real champ in the how-to arena is home improvement, in huge demand at nearly three-quarters of the libraries surveyed.

What makes home improvement so popular? Some librarians argue that it is the upswing in the economy; others cite cable TV shows on the subject and the ubiquitous Martha Stewart. As LJ has discovered in previous surveys, interest is very much a local matter: in the case of how-to books generally it depends in part on the area's economics and number of retirees with the time to pursue leisure activities.

In genre fiction, Christian fiction continues to make inroads, and romance and fantasy are becoming more mainstream, in part because an increasing number of series and stronger publicity have led to greater visibility, say many librarians. But changing attitudes within the profession also play a role.

'Books [in these areas] that we might have passed on ten years ago but now buy and catalog are the Anita Blake 'Vampire Hunter' series, books by J.D. Robb, and maybe romances by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Judith Ivory and the early books of Jennifer Crusie,' says Betty Waz-

nis, San Diego Cty. Lib. 'But I wouldn't say that publishers are buying different books or promoting them better. I think libraries are recognizing the competition from bookstores and the blurring of lines between formats, and we're being forced to get rid of old ideas about what 'should' be part of the collection.'

Finally, an important growth area for most libraries is foreign-language collecting, with Spanish-language works not surprisingly taking top honors. (Other top areas include French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Polish.) Spanish-language books are found in 67 percent of the libraries surveyed, and for some populations served (primarily larger ones), that statistic goes up to 100 percent. In several libraries, increased circulation is attributed to improved Spanish-language collections.

Changing book budgets notwithstanding, the U.S. public library is clearly a busy place. This year's shifts in expenditures indicate that libraries are repositioning themselves on the cultural scene. No one really knows the outcome--the e-revolution is still in its early phase--but librarians are ready to take the ride.

For more LJ Book Buying Survey information, see tables in the printed issue of LJ for February 15, 2001.