College and Research Libraries


The U. S. Office of Education 
Statistics Survey 

By J O H N CARSON R A T H E R 

EARLY THIS MONTH the Office of Education of the U. S. D e p a r t m e n t of H e a l t h , 
Education, a n d Welfare, began the first of 
its series of a n n u a l statistical surveys of col-
lege a n d university libraries in the U n i t e d 
States. T h e survey will gather basic d a t a 
on library operations a n d staff salaries to be 
used by administrators, chief librarians, a n d 
others concerned with p l a n n i n g library budg-
ets a n d the development of library service 
to higher education. T h i s survey is in the 
direct tradition of Office of Education li-
brary studies since in many particulars it 
follows the form and content of a q u i n q u e n -
nial series d a t i n g f r o m 1939/40, a n d its in-
creased frequency falls in step with the 
series of public library statistics compiled 
annually since 1945. 

T h e survey continues statistical compila-
tions for college a n d university libraries 
gathered by ALA since 1922. These statistics 
were for two decades incorporated i n t o the 
a n n u a l tables of library statistics published 
in the ALA Bulletin. I n 1943 their compila-
tion was u n d e r t a k e n separately by A C R L 
a n d the resulting tables were published in 
CRL. D u r i n g the r e m a i n i n g war years pub-
lication lapsed b u t was resumed in 1947. 
T h e compilation of the statistics became a 
responsibility of ALA's Library Adminis-
tration Division u p o n ALA's reorganization 
in 1957. A f t e r that time the statistics were 
compiled by a committee of college a n d 
university librarians within LAD, b u t their 
publication as a feature of the first n u m b e r 
of each volume of CRL continued through 
this year. T h e collection, analysis, a n d pub-
lication of statistics for other libraries 
(principally public libraries a n d school li-
braries) having been a f u n c t i o n of the Of-
fice of Education for some years, LAD's com-
mittee agreed at its 1960 M i d w i n t e r meet-
ing that the collection, analysis, a n d publica-
tion of college a n d university library statistics 
also be u n d e r t a k e n by that office. 

T h e survey will be conducted by the Li-
brary Services Branch, a c o m p o n e n t of the 

Mr. Rather is Specialist for College and 
Research Libraries, Library Services Branch, 
Office of Education, Department of Health, 
Education, and Welfare. 

Office of Education's Division of Statistics 
a n d Research Services. It will be u n d e r the 
supervision of J o h n Carson R a t h e r , whose 
basic responsibilities include r e p o r t i n g on 
the status of libraries of higher education as 
well as providing related consultative serv-
ices. H e will be assisted in the survey by the 
research a n d statistical staff of the Library 
Services Branch with technical advice from 
the Educational Statistics Branch. 

COVERAGE 

T h e survey aims to include all institu-
tions of higher education in the U n i t e d 
States. T h e mailing list for distribution of 
the questionnaire was the one used for the 
Office of Education's survey of fall enroll-
m e n t in higher education. 1 T h i s list com-
prises 1,952 institutions a n d is essentially 
the same as the slightly larger a n d longer 
list published as Part 3 of the Education Di-
rectory, 1959-1960 (OE-50000; W a s h i n g t o n , 
D. C.: Government P r i n t i n g Office, 1959.) 

T h e 1,952 institutions fall into the follow-
ing categories: 

Type Number 

Four-year institutions: 
Universities 141 
Liberal arts colleges 756 
I n d e p e n d e n t l y organized profes-

sional schools: 
Teachers colleges 198 
Technological schools 51 
Theological, religious 173 
Schools of art 46 
O t h e r professional 75 

Junior colleges 512 

TOTAL 1 , 9 5 2 

1 Opening (Fall) Enrollment in Higher Education, 
1959 (Circular No. 606, OE-S4003; Washington, D. C.: 
Government Printing Office, 1959.) 

S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 407 



I n responding to the questionnaire, each 
institution has been requested to r e p o r t 
d a t a on all library agencies of the institu-
tion, regardless of location, even if they are 
not u n d e r the general direction of the col-
lege or university librarian. Any libraries 
excluded f r o m the r e p o r t are to be listed in 
space provided on the questionnaire. T h e 
Library Services Branch will a t t e m p t to ob-
tain the missing data so that final statistics 
will reflect the total library resources of each 
institution. W i t h an adequate response from 
the 1,952 institutions, the individual statistics 
will c o n t r i b u t e to a r o u n d e d view of the 
current state of higher education libraries. 

T H E QUESTIONNAIRE 
T h e questionnaire for the survey is desig-

nated as "College a n d University Library 
Statistics, 1959-60" (Form LSB-8). Its twenty-
six questions are divided into two parts: the 
first deals with collections, staff, expendi-
tures, a n d related institutional d a t a for 
1959/60; the second with salaries of specific 
staff positions as of September 1, 1960. T h e 
questions a n d definitions of terms are sub-
stantially the same as those used in previous 
USOE or ALA surveys. T h e y were reviewed 
and approved by members of the LAD Sec-
tion on Library Organization a n d Manage-
ment's Statistics Committee for College a n d 
University Libraries, formerly responsible 
for compiling the statistics. 

P A R T 1 

T h e exact wording of questions 1-17 com-
prised by P a r t 1 is as follows: 
Library Collection 

1. N u m b e r of volumes at e n d of fiscal 
year 

2. N u m b e r of volumes added d u r i n g fis-
cal year 

3. N u m b e r of periodicals currently re-
ceived (excluding duplicates) 

Personal (Full-time equivalent) 
4. N u m b e r of professional employees 

(FTE) 
5. N u m b e r of nonprofessional employees 

(FTE) 
6. T o t a l n u m b e r of employees (FTE) 
7. N u m b e r of hours of student assistance 

d u r i n g fiscal year 
Library Expenditures ( I n c l u d e e x p e n d i t u r e s 

of all libraries. Give sums to nearest dol-
l a r ; omit cents.) 

8. Salaries (before deductions): Library 
staff 

9. Wages (before deductions): Student 
service a n d other hourly h e l p 

10. T o t a l salaries a n d wages (items 8 
a n d 9) 

11. E x p e n d i t u r e s for books a n d other li-
brary materials 

12. E x p e n d i t u r e s for b i n d i n g 
13. T o t a l for library materials and 

b i n d i n g (items 11 a n d 12) 
14. O t h e r o p e r a t i n g expenditures 
15. T o t a l o p e r a t i n g e x p e n d i t u r e s 

(items 10, 13, a n d 14) 
Institutional Data 

16. N u m b e r of resident students at the 
campuses included in this report, regu-
lar session (fall through spring), 1959-
60. 

(a) U n d e r g r a d u a t e s a n d first pro-
fessional 

(b) G r a d u a t e 
(c) T o t a l (items 16a a n d 16b) 

17. T o t a l expenditures of institution for 
educational a n d general purposes 

A few definitions of terms in these ques-
tions are worthy of discussion: 

Full-time equivalent: " T o c o m p u t e ' f u l -
time equivalents' (FTE) of part-time person-
nel, add the total n u m b e r of hours worked 
per week by all part-time personnel of each 
type (i.e., professional or nonprofessional) 
a n d divide by the n u m b e r of hours in your 
full-time work week." T h i s instruction offers 
an easier way of c o m p u t i n g full-time equiva-
lents than juggling fractions. 

Number of resident students: " D a t a o n 
enrollment should be obtained f r o m the 
registrar. T h e figures should be consistent 
with the definitions of Items 7c, 8c, 9 2 of 
Schedule I I I , Form R S H 50-59, 'Comprehen-
sive R e p o r t on E n r o l l m e n t (Summer Session 
a n d Fall): 1959.' " T h e f o r m cited a n d its 
related definitions are well known to regis-
trars, b u t there is a pitfall here: The enroll-
ment should only be for campuses included 
in the library report. If a r e p o r t e x c l u d e s 
library data for a branch, the enrollment of 
that branch also must be excluded, other-
wise the figure for library o p e r a t i n g cost 
per student will be distorted. 

Total expenditures for institution for edu-
cational and general purposes: " D a t a o n 
total expenditures of institution for educa-
tional a n d general purposes should be ob-
tained from the comptroller or business of-
ficer. T h e figure should be consistent with 
the definition of Item E-32 of Schedule II 

2 That is, total undergraduate and first professional 
students, graduate students in liberal arts and sciences, 
and students beyond the first professional degree, and 
total students. 

408 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 



of Form RSS-041 (58), 'Financial Statistics 
of Institutions of H i g h e r Education.' " T h e 
definition cited requires reporting of ex-
p e n d i t u r e s for organized research. Regard-
less of the source of these funds, they are 
p a r t of the total institutional budget a n d 
cannot reasonably be excluded. 

It will be noted that the questions in P a r t 
1 do not include either library operating 
cost per student or the percentage of total 
institutional expenditures for educational 
a n d general purposes allocated to the li-
brary. These calculations will be made by 
the statistical staff of the Library Services 
Branch as the questionnaires are edited. 

P A R T 2 

Part 2 of the questionnaire is concerned 
with salaries of full-time personnel as of 
September 1, 1960. Instructions a n d ques-
tions in this part were formulated differ-
ently from those in earlier surveys. 

T h e most i m p o r t a n t point to note is the 
limitation of salary data to full-time per-
sonnel. Earlier surveys have accepted sal-
aries of part-time staff inflated to full-time 
equivalents. T h e main defect of this approach 
is that the fact that an institution pays a 
given a m o u n t for (say) a half-time employee 
does not guarantee that it would pay twice 
as much for a full-time employee. Moreover, 
when the part-time staff member divides his 
time between library work and teaching, it 
is misleading to report his salary on the 
same basis as that of a full-time librarian 
or to work out the full-time equivalent of 
the salary ascribable to the library. In either 
case the resulting salary figure is artificial 
and adds little or n o t h i n g to o u r knowledge 
of library salaries. For the same reasons, es-
timates of salaries for staff who contribute 
services (as in Catholic institutions) a n d the 
full-time-equivalent salary of anyone who 
works less than the full academic year have 
been excluded from this part of the ques-
tionnaire. 

T h i s limitation will cause some salaries 
formerly reported in the statistics to be ex-
cluded from the USOE study. However, the 
absence of these data will be offset by the 
greater reliability of b o n a fide full-time 
salaries reported. F u r t h e r accuracy will be 
achieved by asking each institution to in-
dicate whether its salaries are paid for the 
academic year (9-10 months) or the fiscal 
year (11-12 months). 

T h e table of salaries requests i n f o r m a t i o n 
on the following positions: chief librarian 
or director; associate or assistant librarian; 
d e p a r t m e n t a n d division heads; heads of 
school, college, or d e p a r t m e n t a l libraries; 
all other professional assistant; all nonprofes-
sional assistants. For each type of position, 
the responding library should list the num-
ber of full-time salaries reported in that 
category, the highest salary actually paid, 
the lowest salary actually paid, a n d the 
mean (average) salary of all full-time persons 
in that category. Since actual salaries are re-
quested, when only one person is employed 
in a given category, only one salary should 
be listed. In such a case, the salary must be 
entered as the "highest salary." T h i s ar-
bitrary instruction is i n t e n d e d to facilitate 
analysis of the data. 

T h e question about mean salary has been 
introduced to permit calculation of a single 
median salary for each category as well as 
median salaries for all professional and non-
professional positions. T h e mean salary is 
determined by a d d i n g individual salaries in 
a category a n d dividing by their n u m b e r . 
T h e arithmetic will be laborious only for 
larger institutions that have many full-time 
employees in various categories. 

T h e final questions in Part 2 of the ques-
tionnaire ask a b o u t the b e g i n n i n g salary of 
a library school graduate without experience 
and the n u m b e r of budgeted professional 
positions (in full-time equivalents) vacant on 
September 1, 1960. T h i s last query attempts 
to establish a firm figure for existing va-
cancies in academic libraries as a contribu-
tion to an evaluation of the overall pro-
fessional employment situation. T h e question 
has already been asked by the Library Serv-
ices Branch in its survey of public libraries 
and will be asked in a forthcoming survey of 
school libraries. 

P U B L I C A T I O N P L A N S 

Data collected in this survey will be pub-
ished in two parts. T h e first will be a listing 
of institutional data, arranged by state. It is 
intended primarily to serve the needs of 
chief librarians a n d administrators con-
cerned with p r e p a r i n g budgets for the com-
ing fiscal year. Since their deliberations are 
based on specific figures from comparable 
institutions, no a t t e m p t will be made to 
analyze the data in this first report. 

S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 409 



P a r t 2 of the survey r e p o r t will present 
analytical summaries of the d a t a grouped 
by type of institution a n d control (i.e., pub-
lic or private), a n d by e n r o l l m e n t size a n d 
control. I n the e n r o l l m e n t tables, a dis-
tinction will be made between four-year in-
stitutions a n d two-year institutions. T h e 
tables will show ranges a n d medians f o r all 
significant categories of i n f o r m a t i o n a n d an 
effort will be made to lay the f o u n d a t i o n 
f o r discerning trends in the growth a n d de-
velopment of academic libraries. Of course, 
f u l l development of this t r e n d analysis will 
not be realized u n t i l the statistical series 
has been c o n t i n u e d for several years. 

P a r t 1 (institutional data) is scheduled for 
publication as early in 1961 as possible; Part 
2 (analysis) will a p p e a r approximately three 
months later. Obviously, speedy publication 
demands adherence to a tight schedule. 

T h e questionnaires were distributed as 
close to September 1 as possible. T h e dead-
line f o r responses to be listed in Part 1 is 
October 1. However, all r e t u r n s received by 
December 1 will be used in the analysis, so 
chief librarians have been urged to submit 
reports even when they will be too late for 
listing. Reminder-cards a n d follow-up letters 
are being sent d u r i n g September to insure 
the largest possible response f o r the section 
on institutional data. 

Each f o r m is being carefully edited a n d 
discrepancies noted. In general, d a t a will be 
used as submitted, b u t an effort will be made 
to clarify obvious inconsistencies. T h e edited 
form will then be sent to the Statistical 
Processing Branch of the D e p a r t m e n t of 
H e a l t h , Education, a n d W e l f a r e so that a 
set of I B M cards may be p u n c h e d . Every 
card in the set will include common coding 
for state, institution n u m b e r , type, control, 
enrollment category, geographical region, as 
well as size categories f o r book stock a n d 
total o p e r a t i n g expenditures. T h e s e codes 
will facilitate immediate analysis a n d will 
p r e p a r e for f u t u r e machine-processing of the 
cards in the interests of library research. 

T h e I B M cards will be used to p r i n t a 
listing of institutional data, and as raw 
material for analysis. T h e IBM tabulation 
will be reproduced directly by m u l t i l i t h as 
Part 1 of the published report; IBM tapes 
of the analysis will be converted to conven-
tional tables for Part 2. Both publications 
will a p p e a r as circular-size publications 

(about 8 x 10 inches). Copies of each r e p o r t 
will be sent automatically to all institutions 
of higher education. I n d i v i d u a l copies may 
be obtained f r o m the Publication I n q u i r y 
U n i t of the USOE. M u l t i p l e copies should 
be purchased f r o m the G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g 
Office. T h e price of the reports has yet to be 
determined. 

S U M M A R Y 

T h e Library Services Branch has formu-
lated the content a n d f o r m a t of the ques-
tionnaire with f u l l awareness of the require-
ments of p o t e n t i a l users of these data a n d 
of the desirability of simplifying the effort 
of responding. Plans for listing a n d analysis 
take account of the uses of these data a n d the 
urgency of p r o m p t publication. However, 
despite this care, chief librarians a n d admin-
istrators must cooperate wholeheartedly if 
the results of the survey are to be of maxi-
m u m value. 

As yet there is n o valid means of sampling 
higher education institutions to determine 
the characteristics of the entire g r o u p by 
statistical expansion of partial data. T h u s 
each library should r e p o r t in this survey. 
Full participation will insure comprehen-
siveness in the listing a n d accuracy in the 
analysis. 

Secondly, each library should answer all 
questions that apply to its operations. T h e 
required i n f o r m a t i o n should be f o u n d 
readily in the records of the institution. If 
it is not, a reasonable estimate (properly 
designated) should be made; a guess is bet-
ter than a blank. Although each library 
should answer the questionnaire fully, for 
purposes of listing, an incomplete f o r m sub-
mitted before October 1 is preferable to a 
form submitted too late. Reports should not 
be delayed merely to obtain a missing piece 
of data; for example, the total institutional 
expenditures for educational a n d general 
purposes. If the i n f o r m a t i o n becomes avail-
able a f t e r October 1, it can be submitted in 
a supplementary report. 

T h e advantages of complete responses may 
be counterbalanced by the unwillingness of 
some libraries to state actual salaries for 
specific positions. Some colleges and univer-
sities have a policy against divulging this in-
formation, especially when it may be listed 
for publication. It is h o p e d t h a t this re-

(Continued on page 416) 

410 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 



The U. S. Office of Education 
(Continued, from page 410) 

striction will n o t a p p l y to f u r n i s h i n g d a t a 
f o r analysis. T h e U S O E g u a r a n t e e s t h a t in-
d i v i d u a l salaries will n o t be listed in P a r t 
1 of the survey r e p o r t only w i t h i n s t i t u t i o n a l 
a p p r o v a l a n d , moreover, t h a t the analytical 
s u m m a r i e s in P a r t 2 will conceal any rela-
t i o n s h i p between these salaries a n d specific 
i n s t i t u t i o n s . 

L i b r a r y statistics are essential f o r p l a n -
ning, n o t only on t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l level b u t 
also on the n a t i o n a l level. A l t h o u g h cur-
r e n t p l a n n i n g m o r e i m m e d i a t e l y concerns 
a d m i n i s t r a t o r s a n d l i b r a r i a n s , t h e long-
r a n g e issue c a n n o t be i g n o r e d . D u r i n g t h e 
past decade w h e n college e n r o l l m e n t s rose 
40 p e r cent, academic libraries t h a t i m p r o v e d 
t h e i r resources a n d services were f o r t u n a t e . 
B u t even they are c o n f r o n t e d by heavy bur-

d e n s d u r i n g t h e 1960's w h e n e n r o l l m e n t s are 
e x p e c t e d to increase by 70 p e r cent. H o w 
m u c h m o r e serious t h e n are t h e p r o b l e m s of 
less f a v o r e d libraries t h a t strain to m e e t the 
d e m a n d s of the p r e s e n t . 

T r a d i t i o n a l m e a n s of s u p p o r t f o r h i g h e r 
e d u c a t i o n are slowly giving way to n e w e r 
sources of income. W h a t this t r e n d implies 
f o r libraries is u n c l e a r , b u t o n e t h i n g is 
c e r t a i n : any c o n s i d e r a t i o n of the r e q u i r e -
m e n t s of college a n d university libraries will 
be greatly f a c i l i t a t e d by t h e existence of a 
s u b s t a n t i a l body of c u r r e n t , complete, a n d 
reliable facts a b o u t t h e m . T h e U S O E urges 
all a d m i n i s t r a t o r s a n d chief l i b r a r i a n s to 
c o o p e r a t e in laying a firm f o u n d a t i o n f o r 
p l a n n i n g the d e v e l o p m e n t of academic li-
braries. 

A Pamphlet in Your Hand 

Dr. Richard P. Feynman, professor of physics at the California Institute of Tech-
nology, is the a u t h o r of " T h e Wonders T h a t Await a Micro-Microscope, Including an 
E n c y c l o p a e d i a B r i t a n n i c a o n a P i n h e a d , " i n t h e Saturday Review f o r A p r i l 2, 1960. 
His proposal for placing the EB on a p i n h e a d is just the beginning. H e writes f u r t h e r : 

"Now let's consider all the books of the world. T h e Library of Congress has ap-
proximately nine million volumes; the British Museum has five million volumes; 
there are also five million volumes in the N a t i o n a l Library in France. T h e r e are 
many other collections, b u t duplications occur among them, so let us say that there 
are some twenty-four million books of interest in the world." 

T h u s , if you p u t twenty-four volumes on one pinhead, there would be a need of 
one million pinheads for the twenty-four million volumes. Dr. Feynman writes: 

". . . we would need a million pinheads, and these can be p u t in a square of a 
thousand pins on a side, about three square yards altogether, approximately the area 
of thirty-five pages of the Encyclopaedia. T h a t is to say, all the i n f o r m a t i o n in all 
the books of interest in the world could be carried a r o u n d in a p a m p h l e t in your 
h a n d — n o t in code, b u t as a simple reproduction of the original pictures, engravings, 
and p r i n t e d text." 

416 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