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.)
So, how many books can be found in the libraries of our nation's 3,700 academic libraries.
218 libraries had 1 million or more books, bound serials and government documents.
The total number of books, serial backfiles and other documents is 982.6 million...and that number grew by 24.6 million in 2004...meaning it is likely to be over 1 billion by now.
But, do we need books anymore? Is it wasted space on a shelf when the same book could be put in a umpteen megabyte folder in a school database waiting for a search.
How many books in a library NEVER get touched and are there merely for decoration? Now, that would be an interesting number to know.
Somehow, as much as I love books, I still think they are taking up an awful lot of space that could be better used.
What do you think?
The complete report can be found here.
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