The year 2009 will be remembered as one of angst, with the economy dominating news around the world. Few libraries were immune to the extraordinary financial pressures. The library marketplace by year's end was in a weakened position, with prospects of a long recovery at best. Concern persists that even deeper budget cuts will come when federal…

Four articles provide overviews of as many library association conferences, i.e., the American Library Association (ALA), Canadian Library Association (CLA), Medical Library Association (MLA), and Special Library Association (SLA). Highlights include budget concerns; honors and awards; social, national, and international issues; and changes in the…

This article reports the results of Library Journal's 2005 Book Buying Survey. The results of the survey overall showed that attendance is high at the library and circulation is up as well. The survey also reported that fiction is what most people are reading. The how-to books also proved to be very popular. The article goes into detail concerning…

People look at one billion dollars in one of two ways: if it is the result of the long, hard effort of years of fundraising, they rejoice; if it signifies an astronomical budget deficit, they cringe. How, then, should people respond as a community to reaching the $1 billion mark ($1,242,436,438, to be exact) in this year's spending for public…

Examines public library budgets by the population size served. Discusses total budgets, salary budgets, and materials budgets; funding and technology, including e-rate for Internet access and Internet filtering; and fundraising. (LRW)

Although weeding can save libraries money, shelving time, and increase circulation, it can create serious political problems for college librarians. Proposes a method of compiling lists of candidate titles for weeding based on a comparison of recommended titles lists contained in three editions (1967, 1975, 1988) of Books for College Libraries.…

Discussion of the increasing price of journal subscriptions and the resulting impact on library budgets focuses on libraries in less developed countries. Describes international efforts between developed and developing nations to get scholarly research published, indexed and abstracted, converted to electronic form, and made accessible worldwide.…

Presents an annotated list of the best reference materials published in 2001. Discusses activity in the reference publishing industry; costs; and lists print materials, Web sites, databases, and CD-ROMs. (LRW)

Presents Library Journal's 1998 Budget Report, including the cost of linking to the Net; cost of Net maintenance; fund raising for fiscal years 1992, 1996, and 1997; projected budget changes from 1997 to 1998 and provides changes in budgets for 63 public libraries serving rural, suburban, and urban areas. (PEN)

Discussion of problems library wholesalers/distributors face trying to fulfill public libraries' needs while adjusting to a changing industry is based on responses by librarians to a survey on library jobbers. Increased services to libraries, electronic ordering, timeliness, stock management, and quality control are addressed; and a chart of…

Presents the annual budget report for public libraries for 1999, including budget projections; local taxes; rise of technology budgets; materials, salary, and operating budgets; per capita funding; fundraising; net costs; and the role of the Gates Library Foundation. (LRW)

This description of the Vigo County Public Library's implementation of planning, programming, and budgeting focuses on its output measurement system, Complete Service Statistics. Measures of five service categories are developed--lending, facilities, information, production, and staff--to gather statistics for library management. (RAA)

Discusses the need for libraries to market the value of their services. Highlights include customer satisfaction surveys; competition with other information providers; borrowing ideas from the private sector; focusing on marketing electronic resources; targeting younger users; the importance of personal service; and having a budget for…

Discusses ways in which academic libraries are responding to rising costs of serials. Topics addressed include pricing by publishers; the effect of journal cancellations on research activities; interlibrary loans and document delivery services; coordinated cancelling; electronic journals; and experiences at the University of Arizona. (LRW)

This academic library book buying survey examines full-text databases; electronic journals; top circulating subjects; price increases for serials and resulting subscription cuts; the influence of digital choices on purchasing decisions; circulation versus use statistics; and electronic books. (LRW)