Full report (132 pages, 443 KB)
	Conclusions
	Appendix: Data Loss Tables (16 pages, 78KB)

The terms used in this summary are:

FTE Full time equivalent - student or staff as appropriate
FU Funding unit - student
FE Further Education
LRS Learning Resource Service
SMT Senior Management Team
LRC Learning Resource Centre

College size Small - below 1000 FTE students
Medium - 1000 to 2500 FTE students
Large - 2500 plus FTE students

1 The aim of this research was to examine the levels of provision and resourcing in college libraries in the UK and to fix benchmarks across libraries and over time.

2 The research was conducted jointly by the Library Association (LA) and the Survey and Statistical Research Centre (SSRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.

3 Data was collected by sending a self-completion questionnaire to a total of 527 Colleges across the U.K. The overall response rate to the survey was 52% - which was not as high as the previous survey.

4 In total, 52.9% of responses to the survey were from General Further Education (FE) colleges. This survey, as in the previous survey, included Sixth-form colleges, these comprising 21.5% of respondents. The composition of the colleges in terms of type of college is very similar to that seen in the previous survey. To allow comparisons with previous survey data, responses from Sixth-form colleges are removed from the analysis where required or comparisons made across type of college.

5 In general, sixth-form colleges were smaller in terms of number of FTE students. The median student FTE in Sixth-form colleges being 1198, compared with 3159 in general FE colleges and 3000 in Tertiary Colleges. On the average all types of college had seen an increase in size between the two surveys.

6 Forty-seven percent of colleges had 2500+ FTE students - these being described as 'large colleges'. This was an increase over the previous survey.

7 Sixth-form colleges were more likely to be medium in size (between 1000 and 2500 FTE students). Agricultural and Horticultural were more likely to be small. There were no large sixth-form colleges, but they have got bigger.

8 Nearly five percent of colleges had experienced a merger in the previous two years and only a slightly larger proportion of colleges anticipated a merger with another college in the future. Those that did were, as might be expected, smaller in terms of FTE students; the Agricultural and Horticultural colleges expected this more than the others.

9 Overall two thirds of colleges had experienced an internal restructuring during the last two years, over 80% of Tertiary reporting this but just over 50% of the sixth form colleges had experienced this.

10 Nearly half of the colleges were neutral about the effect of restructuring, 35% positive and nearly 14% negative (4% reported both positive and negative effects).

11 Approximately one third of college libraries had been involved in a job-evaluation or re-grading exercise within the last two years with General FE and Agricultural and Horticultural colleges showing very slightly higher frequency.

12 Approximately a third of colleges had experienced a compulsory redundancy scheme within the last two years; with very little difference between college types. Of those experiencing such a scheme a third said that the effect had been negative; only one college library reported a positive effect!

13 Only 20.6% of responding colleges (excluding Sixth Form colleges) described their library as an autonomous department (this was 46% in the previous survey). A further third were part of a Learning Resources Department. In sixth- form colleges, libraries were more likely to be autonomous departments (48.3%); in General FE they were more likely to be part of a wider service (42.8%).

14 A similar proportion of colleges have moved to incorporating libraries into an autonomous LRS department / directorate (35%) compared with the previous survey with a larger proportion now being part of a wider service (39.3%). The position of wider service was not included in the questionnaire in previous surveys and being incorporated into a LRS service was the case for 24% of colleges in 1991/92 and 36% in 1993/94.

15 Almost two-thirds of colleges (63%) had just one staffed library site. This was the case for almost all sixth-form colleges. General FE colleges were more likely to have more sites - 83.6% had more than one (an increase on the previous survey).

16 Five percent of colleges had library floor areas of 1000+ sq. m. per 1000 FTE students.

17 Small college libraries give more space per student FTE than the other sizes. The large college libraries are proportionately the smallest.

18 There is really not that much difference between college types when considering the per capita library floor area. The General FE colleges show a slightly wider variation compared to the Sixth Form colleges, with a few poorly provided with space and a few generously provided with space.

19 Overall, nearly half of college libraries or LRS had converged with another service. This was lower (38.7%) for Sixth Form colleges and higher for General FE (50.4%) with Tertiary colleges showing a lower figure (36.0%). Of those which had converged managerial and physical convergence was reported most (58.3% for Sixth Form libraries, 43.5% for General FE libraries, but only 11.1% for Tertiary colleges).

20 Only a small proportion (5.6%) of libraries or heads of library service were members the college Senior Management Team; 78% reported to an SMT member. This is very similar to the findings in the 1993/4 survey.

21 A larger percentage (8.1%) of larger college librarians and / heads of service were SMT members in their own right, with the figure for Sixth Form colleges being 1.7%

22 Nearly 78% of libraries had produced or were producing (14%) a statement of aims and objectives. For a strategic plan, the equivalent figures are 68.1% and 16.7%, respectively. Nearly half of college libraries, on the other hand, were not producing and had produced a users' charter or service level agreement; 31.6% had produced such an agreement and this was in preparation for 18% of college libraries. While the percentages producing such an agreement are small, there is a large increase over the previous survey.

23 The median weekly opening hours of libraries was approximately 50 during term-time and 35 hours during vacations - these being similar to the 1993/4 survey. Combined library / LRC's tended to open longer hours than the other types of service.

24 The differences in term-time visits are largely due to the different sizes of college, but it is interesting to see elevated numbers for small college library combined library / LRC and the depressed numbers for large college library combined library / LRC. This supports the low level of book issues per FTE for large college libraries

25 While Sixth Form colleges tend to be smaller than General FE colleges the numbers of term-time visits are not correspondingly lower. This suggests a higher usage per FTE for Sixth Form college libraries.

26 Approximately 20% of college libraries showed fewer than 5 issues per FTE. On the other hand, over 20% of college libraries reported over 3 times this level of usage. Over 60% of college libraries issued fewer than 10 items per student FTE during the survey year. Only 8% reported double this figure.

27 Small colleges see much higher usage per FTE in terms of stock issues (mean 28.79 and median 15.19 per FTE); larger colleges see the lowest picture ( mean 9.87 and median 7.97 per FTE). It is the smaller college libraries that have a much higher level of provision per FTE than the medium or large college libraries.

28 There are some differences between type of college in relation to stock issues but there is no strong pattern. The median number of issues per FTE is just over 8 overall.

29 Over 60% of colleges were involved in a formal collaborative arrangement with another institution, although for Sixth Form colleges the proportion was much lower at 37.3%. The large colleges were also more likely to be involved in such an arrangement (75.8% compared with 48.3% for small colleges and 52.5% for medium sized colleges.

30 Library and / or Learning Resources Services were less likely to have a formal collaborative arrangement with another library or service (37.6%), with Sixth Form college libraries at 18.6% and General FE at 38.6%; the other college types showed much higher percentages, although they were small in number.

31 When there was a formal collaborative arrangement between libraries and / or services these were with universities (68.6%), other libraries or services (31.4%) and Public Library Services (42.2%). There was very little co-operation with local companies. Although the numbers are small, there was a higher tendency for Sixth Form college libraries to have arrangement with a similar service. Of those libraries or services with an agreement, over two thirds of General FE and other college libraries had arrangements with a university but for the Sixth Form college libraries the figure was only 36.4%. Over two thirds of Sixth Form college libraries had arrangements with a Public Library Service.

32 Seventy-eight percent of staff who were in direct operational control of the library were chartered librarians.

33 Nearly 80% of librarians in charge or heads of service were female.

34 Over half of the heads of service possessed a first degree or above in Library or Information Science.

35 Over a third of heads had a teaching qualification but only 19.3% possessed a management qualification.

36 The survey revealed clear gender differences in the grading of library managers - 30.6% of male library managers were at lecturer/senior lecturer/management spine level; this being the case for 14.9% of female library managers.

37 Over half (50.7%) of the professionally qualified or management posts in libraries were on APC Scale 4-6. Fifty-six percent of library support posts were Scale 1-2.

38 Small college libraries were on the average better resourced in terms of FTE professional staff but nearly half possessed no professional staff. Overall the median value is 1 FTE professional per 2000 FTE students.

39 Comparing median values suggests Sixth Form and General FE college libraries possess fewer professional staff per student FTE (about 1 per 2500 student FTE's) than the other types of college.

Overall there is approximately 1 paraprofessional staff per 2500 student FTE's with small college libraries both low and high numbers of paraprofessional staff per student FTE.

41 Nearly 60% of Sixth Form college libraries had no paraprofessional staff; the figure for General FE college libraries is half that for Sixth Form college libraries.

42 Nearly 87% of libraries have automated cataloguing. The difference between Sixth Form college and General FE college libraries was not evident.

43 There are some differences between types of college with respect to library automation but they are not all in the same direction. The most notable feature is the dramatic increase generally across all functions, with Serials Control and Inter-library Loan functions well behind the others.

44 Large college libraries tend to enjoy more automation than small college libraries; there is a general trend across size with medium size college libraries lying in between the two extremes. Having said this, the overall level of automation has radically increased since the 1993/4 survey.

45 Overall, only 8.3% of general FE colleges reported no functions automated, this being the case for 6.8% of sixth-form, 3.7% of tertiary and 27.8% of Agricultural and Horticultural colleges. Overall the figure was 8.8%.

46 Small college libraries give more space per student FTE than the other sizes. The large college libraries are proportionately the smallest.

47 For study places, provision is very variable, with the top 10% (in terms of provision) enjoying nearly 5 times the level of provision of the bottom 10% of college libraries (with fewer than 20 study places per 1000 FTE).

48 There is a very noticeable trend in study place provision per student FTE, with the smaller college libraries providing many more places per 1000 FTE students compared to the large college libraries. Nearly one half of the small college libraries reported in excess of 1 place per 10 student FTE's (100 per 1000 FTE's).

49 General FE college library provision is quite variable with some poor provision for a quarter of those responding. Sixth Form college libraries had a noticeably higher level of provision, here, with nearly a quarter with provision close to 1 place per 10 FTE students.

50 Over 50% of college libraries have fewer than 1 video playback unit per 1000 FTE students.

51 There is a very noticeable trend in video playback provision per 1000 student FTE's, with the smaller college libraries providing many more items per 1000 FTE students compared to the large college libraries. Over one half of the large college libraries reported fewer than 1 video playback facility per 1000 student FTE's.

52 Over 60% of college libraries have fewer than 1 audio playback unit per 1000 FTE students. Only just over 10% have 3 or more units per 1000 FTE students.

53 There is a very noticeable trend in audio playback provision per student FTE, with the smaller college libraries providing many more items per 1000 FTE students compared to the large college libraries. Over two thirds of the large college libraries reported fewer than 1 item per 1000 FTE students.

54 A surprising revelation is the small number of student use photocopiers with over 70% of college libraries having fewer than 1 copier per 1000 FTE students.

55 The trend across size is easily seen. Small college libraries are better resourced with respect to student use photocopiers compared with larger college libraries.

56 Approximately 10% of college libraries had no student use micros and nearly 40% had fewer than 1 per 100 FTE students; over 10% possessed more than 3 units per 100 FTE students. Provision, here, is not extravagant. The median is 10 units per 1000 student FTE's.

57 While the general level of provision is low, the trend in provision from small to large colleges is very strong. Small college libraries are much better resourced in terms of this item.

58 The Sixth Form college libraries generally possessed more student use micros per student FTE compared with the General FE libraries. The level of provision is, however, very small, with only approximately one fifth of libraries having more than 1 item per 50 student FTE's. Over 10% of the General FE college libraries had none.

59 Approximately 2% of college libraries had no micro with CD-ROM and over 70% had fewer than 1 per 100 FTE students; just over 5% possessed more than 3 units per 100 FTE students. Provision, here, is not extravagant. The median is 4 units per 1000 student FTE's.

60 While the general level of provision of micros with CD-ROM is low, the trend in provision from small to large colleges is very strong. Small college libraries are much better resourced in terms of this item; nearly 90% of large college libraries possessed fewer than 10 items per 1000 student FTE's while for the small college libraries the equivalent percentage was 35.7.

61 There are not major differences between the college type with respect to the provision of micros with CD-ROM. Over three quarters of General FE college libraries possess fewer than 1 micro with CD-ROM per 100 student FTE's; for Sixth Form college libraries this is lower at just over two thirds.

62 Over a quarter of college libraries had no Internet connection, with the vast majority having fewer than 1 per 100 FTE students.

63 While the general level of provision of micros with Internet access is low, the trend in provision from small to large colleges is strong. Small college libraries are much better resourced in terms of this item.

64 Over half of the college libraries had fewer than 10 books per student FTE. Fewer than 10 % of college libraries had more than 20 books per student FTE.

65 The difference in levels of provision of books between small and large college libraries is striking with less than 20% of small college libraries holding fewer than 10 books per FTE. The equivalent figure is 70% for the large college libraries; over half of the small college libraries stock over 20 books per FTE.

66 General FE college libraries exhibit more variability than the other college libraries when considering total book stock. They also have slightly lower provision per student FTE. While just over 10% possessed fewer than 5 books per FTE, 8.4% possessed more than four times this number.

67 Over two thirds of college libraries had added fewer than 1 book per student FTE and just under 5% had added more than 3 books per student FTE.

68 While book additions are not high, the effect of college size is again noticeable. The small college libraries are replenishing their bookstock at a higher level per student FTE than the large college libraries.

69 As can be seen the vast majority of college libraries added fewer than 2 books per student FTE; over half the Sixth Form college libraries added fewer than 1 book and of the General FE college libraries, over three quarters added fewer than 1 book per student FTE. There were fewer responses to this question, suggesting that this information was not known.

70 In over 75% of college libraries it would take over 10 years to replace the total stock (with over 40% taking between 10 and 20 years and over 30% taking over 20 years). There are only small differences between size of college. The median values (approximately 7%) suggest a replacement period in excess 14 years.

71 Sixth form college libraries have slightly higher replenishment rates than general FE libraries, taking nearly 11.5 years on average to replace all stock. With a median replenishment rate of 6.7%, general FE libraries on the average would take nearly 15 years.

72 A wide range of periodical provision emerged, with the top providers having a provision three times that of the bottom providers. Over 80% of college libraries possessed fewer than 100 titles per 1000 student FTE's. A college with 10,000 FTE students might stock up to 1000 titles.

73 In relation to periodical holding per 1000 student FTE, the medium and large college libraries are similar with much lower holding than the small college libraries. There is wide variation in this provision in medium and large college libraries.

74 While over 20% of Sixth Form college libraries and over 15% of General FE college libraries held fewer than 30 periodical titles per 1000 FTE students, over 15% of General FE college libraries held more than 100 periodical titles per 1000 FTE students. Provision in General FE college libraries can be very good but also not very good. Interestingly, Agricultural and Horticultural college libraries are well provided for, here.

75 A large proportion of college libraries were withdrawing periodical titles; a somewhat different picture from than that of additions. This information was not, however, recorded by nearly half.

76 Nearly 95% of college libraries stocked fewer than 1 CD per 10 student FTE's (100 per 1000 FTE's), with over a quarter stocking fewer than 1 per 100 student FTE's, (i.e. 10 per 1000 FTE).

77 As in many other areas of resource, there is a significant trend from small to large college. The small college libraries (although much smaller in number) are much better resourced than the medium and large college libraries. Over two thirds of the Sixth Form college libraries held more than 50 CD's per 1000 FTE students while over two thirds of the large college libraries stocked fewer than 20 CD's per 1000 FTE.

78 Sixth Form college libraries stock more CD's per head than the General FE college libraries. Nearly a third of Sixth Form college libraries held over 50 items per 1000 FTE; the equivalent percentage for General FE college libraries is 11.3%. Generally the holding of this item of stock is quite variable and low.

79 On the holding of films / videos over 90% of college libraries had up to 1 per FTE. There was much variation in provision, here, with the top libraries providing ten times that of the bottom libraries.

80 Over 90% of college libraries stocked fewer than 300 audio tapes per 1000 FTE students (i.e. fewer than 3 items per 10 FTE). The variation across all colleges for this item is very wide. About 15% stock fewer than 20 items per student FTE, yet nearly 15% stock more than 200 items per student FTE (10 times the level).

81 Approximately two thirds of college libraries did not hold any slide stock. Additions, withdrawals and losses of this item of stock were almost negligible. Data losses were quite serious with nearly a quarter of college libraries not recording this information.

82 Nearly 40% of college libraries reported no holding of computer software packages. With this item of stock there was some variation in provision with over 15% of college libraries holding fewer than 5 items per 1000 FTE students and over 10% holding 30 items per 1000 FTE students.

83 In 83.2%% of colleges decisions about the detailed breakdown and allocation of the library and / or Learning Resources Service budget were made by the librarian or head of service. This figure was lower in Sixth Form colleges (79.7%) and there were differences by size of college. In the small colleges the figure was 93.1% and 85.9% for the large colleges with medium-sized colleges showing a lower level of involvement with the budget allocation of 76.3%.

84 There appears to be very much a static position with regard to library expenditure excluding salaries; no growth in provision can be expected. There is, however, much variation in library expenditure (excluding salaries) across the sampled colleges. Those at the top end (£30 plus per FTE) can enjoy over three times the level of expenditure than those at the bottom end (less than £10 per FTE).

85 Small colleges seem to resource their libraries better than larger colleges, but there will be a scale effect and the number of small colleges is small.

86 Library expenditure excluding salaries is much higher for general FE libraries compared with sixth form libraries. There is much variation in spending, especially for General FE college libraries with over a quarter spending less than £10 per student FTE and over a third spending over £20 per student FTE.

87 There is some increase between the two years for library expenditure including salaries, but not such that any large increases can be detected. It may be the case that restructuring and convergence have produced some savings that can be used elsewhere. Again, much variation can be seen with the top 10% of college libraries receiving up to 5 times the resource of the bottom 10% of college libraries.

88 Small libraries are still much better resourced when including salaries; larger college libraries are only slightly better resourced than the medium sized college libraries.

89 Again, with respect to library expenditure including salaries, General FE college libraries are better resourced than sixth form college libraries. The variation is very wide, especially for General FE college libraries.

90 Nearly three quarters of college libraries spent less than £10 per student FTE on books. However, some increases in the book budget can be seen for 1997/8.

91 As before we see better provision in the smaller colleges. While about 40% of small college libraries spend less than £10 per FTE on books, over 80% of the large colleges spend this amount.

92 Over three quarters of college libraries spend less than £5 per student FTE on periodicals.

93 Here, again, small college libraries fare better, with medium and large colleges very similar with respect to provision for periodicals.

94 There are differences, here, between sixth form and general FE college libraries. General FE college libraries spend more on periodicals; Agricultural and Horticultural libraries even more.

95 Over 60% of college libraries spent less than £1 per student FTE on CD's, with approximately 10% spending three times this amount. Data losses were high with nearly three quarters of responses missing.

96 Over 80% of college libraries spent less than £1 per student FTE on videos / films.

97 While the numbers reporting are small, there is a trend of increased expenditure on video / film with size of college. This is in keeping with the differences noticed on stock and additions to stock. There is wide variation in expenditure across all sizes of college, with approximately a third of college libraries spending less than £20 per 100 FTE and approximately a third spending over £50 per 100 FTE.

98 Expenditure on video / film is quite uniform for General FE college libraries but is split into two (low providers and high providers) for Sixth Form college libraries. There is great variation in provision across all types of college, over a third of college libraries spending less than £20 per 100 FTE (20p per FTE) and approximately a third spend over £50 per 100 FTE; i.e. 2.5 times as much.

99 Expenditure on audio tapes was much lower than that for video / films with no college library spending more than 20p per student FTE.

100 Expenditure on slides was very small and no increase (or decrease) was envisaged.

101 Expenditure on Internet / online access charges shows some, modest, growth between the two years.

102 Overall, about a third of all college libraries spend nothing on inter-library loans. There was some variation in spending and a hint of a small anticipated increase for 1997/8. There are differences between the different sizes of college but they are not striking. However, there is a lot of variation in expenditure per FTE across all sizes of college, with 15% spending less than £5 per 100 FTE (5p per FTE) and 15% spending more than £30 per 100 FTE (30p per FTE). This is still quite small. Even though the sample is small, there is a striking difference with respect to inter-library loans expenditure. The majority of Sixth Form college libraries spend nothing on inter-library loans.

103 There was no discernible increase in expenditure on automated library management systems. Approximately a quarter of college libraries spent nothing on this and another 50 % less than £1 per student FTE. Notice, also that the range of expenditures is very wide, from £5 per 100 FTE to over £300 per 100 FTE. The larger college libraries spend more per head than the smaller college libraries. There were, however, a small number of college libraries that spent over £300 per head.

104 Over 40% of college budgets excluding salaries are below £1000 per FTE, while 18% are in excess of £2000 per FTE. This shows some considerable variation in the funding of colleges.

105 Small colleges enjoy higher budgets (excluding salaries) per FTE; a significant proportion receiving 3 times that of the large and medium size colleges.

106 Sixth Form colleges are funded (excluding salaries) at a much lower level than the other colleges. Nearly 90% received less than £1000 per FTE, while the equivalent figure for General FE is 31.8%.

107 Again, considering college budgets including salaries, the range of college budgets is large. Nearly 10% receive less than £2000 per FTE, while nearly 28% receive over £4000 per FTE.

108 Large and medium size colleges receive much less funding (including salaries) per FTE student than the small colleges.

109 The funding of General FE colleges (including salaries per FTE student) is higher and also much more variable than for Sixth Form colleges. Some General FE colleges receive large budgets.

110 Nearly half of college libraries anticipated a reduction or no change in library expenditure (excluding salaries) for 1997/8 compared with 1996/7.

111 Nearly a third of college libraries anticipated an actual reduction in expenditure (including salaries) and adding in an inevitable inflation factor suggests that a large proportion of college libraries would see a drop in expenditure in real terms.

112 The small college libraries receive a smaller proportion of the college (excluding salaries) budget but appear better resourced than the large or medium size college libraries. The medium and large college libraries do not show the difference on budget as a percentage of college budget that they showed consistently on resources and expenditure.

113 The small college libraries receive a smaller proportion of the college (including salaries) budget (median 1.0%) compared to General FE college libraries (median 1.4%) but appear better resourced than the large or medium college libraries.

114 Sixth Form college libraries receive a larger proportion of the college budget (excluding salaries) (median 1.7%) than General FE college libraries (median 1.1%), but the picture is reversed when salaries are included (medians 1.1% and 1.4% respectively).

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