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Overview of the UC Berkeley Library collections budget
54% is allocated to serials and other continuing resources. If Elsevier is included, we would typically pay about 58% of the collections budget to serials.
Of 120 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members that shared fiscal year 2018-19 spending stats, the median for ongoing collection expenses was 85%.
Here’s are some peer comparisons:
Cornell 91%
Rutgers 88%
MIT 87%
Texas A&M 85%
UCSD 83%
UCI 82%
Penn State 80%
UBC 80%
UCD 79%
Michigan 71%
Columbia 69%
UCB 62%
UCLA 60%
Princeton 59%
Harvard 56%
Yale 43%
30% is allocated to individual selectors and the Library subject divisions for discretionary/one-time purchasing, usually books, datasets, and some databases.
6-7% is allocated to centralized group funds and fund operational costs (i.e. course reserves, binding, shipping, Interlibrary Loan)
6-8% is comprised of endowments supporting various subjects, predominantly in the Arts, Bancroft, and the East Asian Library
Share of serials and discretionary funds allocated to subject divisions and selectors:
25.4% to Arts & Humanities
33.8% to Social Sciences
22.7% to Engineering & Physical Sciences
12.2% to Life & Health Sciences
5.7% East Asian Library and Bancroft