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Spending by University Research Libraries, 2015-16

Almanac 2017
August 13, 2017

Salaries and wages of professional staff members represented from 15 percent to 37 percent of total library spending for the institutions that provided data to the Association of Research Libraries for 2015-16. Library materials consumed from 28 percent to 66 percent of total spending that year. The association’s Library Investment Index measures the relative size of university libraries.

Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store.

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Salaries and wages of professional staff members represented from 15 percent to 37 percent of total library spending for the institutions that provided data to the Association of Research Libraries for 2015-16. Library materials consumed from 28 percent to 66 percent of total spending that year. The association’s Library Investment Index measures the relative size of university libraries.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store.


Index numberInstitution Total library expenditures Salaries and wages of professional staff Total library-materials expenditures Number of professional and support staff Index score
1. Harvard U. $119,614,204 $37,446,389 $48,125,422 735 5.25
2. Yale U. $93,128,408 $20,738,438 $44,299,185 489 3.71
3. U. of Michigan $74,702,421 $16,005,871 $27,118,176 545 2.46
4. Columbia U. $68,922,024 $22,163,447 $32,034,983 476 2.36
5. New York U. $64,888,392 $19,303,907 $30,812,232 411 2.11
6. U. of Toronto $65,954,319 $16,722,465 $24,696,193 526 2.01
7. Pennsylvania State U. $59,242,593 $13,976,085 $21,743,273 531 1.60
8. U. of California at Berkeley $55,984,751 $19,447,917 $23,953,938 379 1.56
9. Princeton U. $55,151,886 $12,055,877 $27,965,158 316 1.50
10. U. of California at Los Angeles $58,114,938 $14,735,512 $16,035,360 403 1.45
11. Cornell U. $53,893,306 $15,607,939 $21,562,802 378 1.37
12. U. of Texas $52,916,981 $11,402,039 $21,576,253 403 1.26
13. Texas A&M U. $46,860,833 $10,534,213 $25,680,255 266 1.04
14. U. of Southern California $46,485,868 $11,328,513 $22,714,047 226 0.98
15. U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign $47,304,323 $13,405,693 $19,172,663 367 0.98
16. Ohio State U. $47,357,887 $9,882,371 $20,273,110 301 0.96
17. Duke U. $45,267,778 $13,393,698 $22,215,462 302 0.94
18. U. of Pennsylvania $46,905,095 $10,849,341 $18,365,980 333 0.91
19. Emory U. $45,113,520 $14,574,283 $19,572,442 276 0.90
20. U. of Washington $44,407,936 $13,066,264 $16,819,463 340 0.79
21. U. of Minnesota $43,705,622 $9,947,159 $20,364,809 253 0.79
22. Johns Hopkins U. $42,324,171 $10,628,281 $20,223,320 229 0.73
23. U. of Virginia $42,110,533 $11,771,428 $15,864,465 274 0.65
24. Indiana U. $41,276,553 $10,474,456 $18,584,221 309 0.65
25. U. of North Carolina $39,810,165 $9,612,670 $16,703,881 308 0.53
26. Rutgers U. $39,609,942 $9,403,463 $14,463,801 311 0.48
27. Northwestern U. $37,242,131 $9,991,555 $16,659,280 273 0.41
28. U. of Chicago $36,498,434 $5,747,781 $20,033,015 225 0.39
29. Michigan State U. $35,657,445 $7,071,698 $18,300,088 218 0.33
30. U. of Iowa $34,759,938 $7,441,330 $19,827,622 200 0.32
31. U. of Alberta $34,763,680 $5,569,084 $20,183,511 184 0.30
32. U. of Wisconsin $35,306,184 $11,218,364 $12,884,918 269 0.27
33. U. of Pittsburgh $32,791,499 $7,463,297 $17,414,575 252 0.18
34. North Carolina State U. $33,500,778 $8,940,867 $11,859,057 217 0.13
35. U. of British Columbia $31,909,644 $8,598,695 $13,545,292 273 0.08
36. George Washington U. $33,053,461 $6,489,854 $11,979,308 267 0.08
37. U. of Arizona $31,702,671 $6,030,521 $15,418,985 179 0.08
38. U. of California at San Diego $32,395,074 $8,831,464 $10,067,069 250 0.05
39. U. of Florida $31,617,448 $6,315,540 $13,762,452 280 0.04
40. Brigham Young U. $30,768,402 $8,582,412 $13,006,457 175 0.02
41. Washington U. in St. Louis $29,876,582 $7,470,192 $14,953,214 201 0.00
42. McGill U. (Quebec) $28,826,609 $5,792,926 $16,740,993 162 -0.04
43. Purdue U. $28,635,073 $6,856,017 $14,978,634 170 -0.07
44. U. of Maryland $28,977,173 $9,004,213 $12,265,789 200 -0.07
45. Georgetown U. $28,336,692 $7,446,931 $12,643,534 189 -0.12
46. U. of Miami $27,976,620 $6,328,406 $13,761,290 184 -0.13
47. U. of Tennessee $27,489,120 $6,689,987 $14,710,552 212 -0.13
48. U. of Notre Dame $27,624,867 $7,333,691 $13,312,469 216 -0.14
49. Vanderbilt U. $27,611,582 $6,051,711 $12,888,980 153 -0.16
50. U. of Oklahoma $26,385,104 $5,874,537 $14,435,222 159 -0.20
51. U. of Georgia $26,968,733 $5,213,122 $13,376,678 244 -0.20
52. Texas Tech U. $26,789,996 $5,973,642 $12,423,021 226 -0.21
53. Massachusetts Institute of Technology $25,100,826 $7,943,633 $10,774,136 157 -0.30
54. Brown U. $24,836,552 $5,419,930 $12,725,463 144 -0.31
55. Arizona State U. $25,315,616 $4,295,324 $12,281,916 194 -0.31
56. Boston College $24,385,107 $6,359,893 $13,088,222 149 -0.31
57. Boston U. $24,636,753 $7,002,495 $11,618,638 193 -0.32
58. Virginia Tech $24,676,033 $4,653,267 $11,699,973 139 -0.34
59. U. of Utah $25,090,472 $5,069,481 $9,809,895 232 -0.35
60. U. of Kentucky $23,831,246 $6,758,827 $10,722,135 188 -0.37
61. U. of Houston $22,896,883 $5,502,984 $12,299,500 140 -0.40
62. Syracuse U. $23,351,056 $5,705,607 $10,920,132 168 -0.41
63. U. of Calgary $23,450,294 $5,104,838 $10,662,148 197 -0.41
64. U. of Rochester $22,608,238 $5,985,363 $11,068,500 152 -0.44
65. U. of Connecticut $22,678,931 $6,037,074 $10,414,130 116 -0.44
66. U. of Colorado $22,486,420 $4,535,193 $11,721,745 165 -0.45
67. U. of New Mexico $23,248,927 $4,096,015 $9,462,959 158 -0.46
68. U. of South Carolina $22,331,315 $5,265,038 $10,408,551 176 -0.47
69. U. of Delaware $21,813,494 $4,924,106 $11,891,186 137 -0.47
70. U. of Alabama $21,683,658 $5,298,028 $11,223,730 142 -0.49
71. Dartmouth College $21,902,194 $5,053,634 $10,794,655 168 -0.49
72. U. of Ottawa $21,539,575 $3,790,401 $12,187,968 153 -0.49
73. U. of Cincinnati $21,504,607 $6,266,493 $10,524,251 129 -0.49
74. Iowa State U. $21,293,162 $3,286,455 $12,883,873 119 -0.50
75. Temple U. $21,414,972 $6,117,289 $10,256,308 140 -0.51
76. York U. (Ontario) $21,358,353 $5,724,839 $9,675,950 165 -0.52
77. U. of California at Irvine $21,607,732 $5,095,505 $8,977,308 160 -0.53
78. U. of California at Davis $21,164,572 $5,280,904 $9,595,749 134 -0.54
79. U. at Buffalo $20,605,760 $7,041,592 $9,611,300 123 -0.54
80. Florida State U. $20,599,073 $5,724,348 $10,410,115 171 -0.55
81. U. of Hawaii $20,312,544 $6,631,116 $9,238,600 154 -0.57
82. U. of Saskatchewan $20,044,220 $4,980,671 $10,660,724 134 -0.58
83. Western U. (Ontario) $19,848,512 $4,190,572 $11,702,548 156 -0.58
84. Tulane U. $19,813,096 $3,457,123 $12,075,750 127 -0.58
85. U. of Manitoba $20,256,119 $4,618,387 $9,842,399 180 -0.59
86. U. of Kansas $20,383,677 $4,023,706 $9,752,144 173 -0.59
87. U. of Massachusetts at Amherst $20,421,944 $5,472,493 $8,313,994 121 -0.60
88. Wayne State U. $19,521,624 $4,590,853 $9,970,666 141 -0.62
89. Rice U. $18,572,248 $4,276,488 $12,198,661 106 -0.63
90. U. of Oregon $19,760,899 $5,434,710 $7,356,857 163 -0.65
91. Oklahoma State U. at Stillwater $19,580,998 $3,839,428 $8,424,165 134 -0.66
92. U. of California at Santa Barbara $20,305,398 $4,040,168 $5,812,069 177 -0.67
93. Colorado State U. $18,917,911 $4,443,978 $8,481,464 150 -0.68
94. U. of Illinois at Chicago $18,893,517 $4,415,191 $8,464,529 142 -0.68
95. U. of Louisville $17,713,391 $4,194,794 $10,250,633 111 -0.71
96. U. of Missouri $18,420,190 $3,132,897 $8,614,783 138 -0.72
97. Laval U. (Quebec) $17,996,106 $3,827,184 $9,133,073 191 -0.72
98. U. of Nebraska $17,987,948 $3,600,582 $8,907,856 140 -0.73
99. Georgia Institute of Technology $17,141,026 $3,478,323 $9,044,584 111 -0.76
100. Stony Brook U. $15,616,048 $5,757,712 $9,120,709 85 -0.80
101. Queen’s U. (Ontario) $15,723,420 $3,510,983 $8,487,584 109 -0.84
102. McMaster U. (Ontario) $15,552,026 $3,053,209 $8,709,885 117 -0.85
103. Case Western Reserve U. $14,843,510 $3,990,333 $7,487,844 90 -0.90
104. U. of Waterloo (Ontario) $14,900,202 $2,559,745 $7,567,201 121 -0.91
105. Auburn U. $14,396,353 $3,332,463 $8,174,930 77 -0.91
106. Louisiana State U. $13,878,412 $3,232,804 $7,248,927 105 -0.96
107. State U. of New York at Albany $13,054,033 $4,188,791 $6,613,731 88 -0.99
108. U. of California at Riverside $13,493,549 $3,895,938 $5,067,218 93 -1.01
109. Washington State U. $12,887,544 $2,884,963 $6,353,744 107 -1.02
110. U. of Guelph (Ontario) $12,662,643 $3,720,922 $6,214,567 109 -1.03
111. Ohio U. $12,777,023 $3,149,604 $5,799,749 89 -1.04
112. Kent State U. $12,028,175 $3,968,353 $5,711,162 79 -1.06
113. Southern Illinois U. $11,491,100 $2,407,403 $6,397,919 88 -1.09
114. Howard U. $8,333,150 $1,920,094 $4,072,356 63 -1.29
Average for 114 libraries $30,293,507 $7,494,439 $13,871,547 209 0.00

Note: The ARL Library Investment Index is a measure of the relative size of university libraries that are members of the Association of Research Libraries. The higher the index score, the larger the library’s size, relative to that of other members. Relative size is determined by a combination of four variables: total library expenditures, salaries and wages of professional staff, total library-materials expenditures, and total number of professional and support-staff members. The index does not attempt to measure a library’s services, quality of collections, or success in meeting the needs of users. Figures for the 15 Canadian libraries on the list are expressed in U.S. dollars. The index scores are rounded to two decimal places, which may give the appearance of identical scores for some institutions; however, the full index score is unique for each institution. The index is available online at www.arlstatistics.org/analytics.

Source: Association of Research Libraries</small></p>

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A version of this article appeared in the August 18, 2017, issue.
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