Wednesday, August 5, 2015

A statistical look at Wisconsin public library collections: physical units (part 2)


In the first installment of this series, I took a look at the following Wisconsin Public Library Annual Report categories:
  • Print and serial volumes in print (i.e., total items owned)
  • Book and serial volumes added by year
  • Print materials expenditures

Now for a look at audiovisual materials, as tabulated in the Wisconsin Public Library Service Data.

Audio and, especially, video collections have grown considerably during the past quarter century (1990-2014).
  • 182% - audio
  • 1483% - video
As a point of comparison, the number of book and serial volumes in print increased by 22% during the same period.


Since 2006, when the number of book and serial volumes peaked, audio and video collections have continued to grow.
  • 20% - audio
  • 34% - video 
As a point of comparison, the number of book and serial volumes in print decreased by 6% during the same period.


The number of audio titles added by Wisconsin public libraries per year peaked in 2007.  Since then, the number has declined by nearly 14%, although it remains a little more than 1% over the number for 2006, the year when this statistic first became available in the Wisconsin Public Library Service Data report.

The number of video titles added by Wisconsin public libraries per year peaked in 2013.  Overall, though, the number of video titles added from 2006 to 2014 has increased 23.5%.




The total amount expended by Wisconsin public libraries for audiovisual materials peaked in 2010.  Since then, the annual expenditure has decreased 5%, although  it remains 26% higher than the 2006 dollar amount.



The most notable decline in library collection development has been in the category of print periodical subscriptions.
  •  7% decrease since 1991
  • 35% decrease since peak year of 2000



Related posts:
A statistical look at Wisconsin public library collections: physical units (part 1).  (8/1/2015)
Wisconsin Public Library annual circulation (1990-2014), programs and program attendance (1991-2014).  (7/31/2015)

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