The National Center for Education Statistics released its state of the Academic Libraries 2004: (I don't know why its a year and half old or why they can't get more current info. Perhaps its the pace that those bespectacled women work at.)
How much does it cost to keep our nation's 3,700 academic libaries in operation?
The answer - $5.8 billion in FY 2004. No doubt it is more now.
Of that $5.8 billion, $2.9 billion went to salaries and wages and benefits and workmen's comp and unemployment and ....and...and....
Another $2.2 billion was spent on information resources - book binding, purchasing and such?
And still another $101.3 million went for bibliographic unitilies, networks and consortia....
Can you see Google licking its lips? "If you let us scan all that, we can save the libraries money and make more money for Google, too.
Should all of our library resources be put online? Should we open up those buildings for classroom study or some other useful function? Are the libraries wasted space and resources?
What do you think?
The complete report can be found here.
Other Posts That May Interest You:
The State of Academic Libraries - part 2
The State of Academic Libraries - part 1
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