In previous posts we shared key metrics, circulation and programs.
This week we focus on:
Selected Expenditures at Ontario Public Libraries, 2001-2013, All Reporting EACH Year: FOPL Data Report Second series
Here we present summary expenditures for the 301 libraries which reported each data each year from 2001-2013.
The following table is structured like the others we have used but with addition of a column on the left with totals for the 13 years. Ontario’s public libraries spent a total of $7 billion dollars during this period, $680 million on “general materials,” and $600 million on capital expenditures.
Looking to the summary growth calculations on the right, the reader can see generally steady growth over the period for operating expenditures with a few variables showing declines. Electronic Materials Expenditures show a very large increase as a percentage over the period rising from $2.8 million in 2001 to $16.8 million in 2013.
We present three charts to accompany this report. The first is for Total Operating Expenditures at these libraries. And we see a relatively steady increase in the amount of money these libraries have for operations.
However, other parts of spending change from year to year. Capital Expenditures are represented in the second chart and we see they wax and wane dramatically from year to year. Capital Expenditures respond to a number of forces external to libraries—particularly economic activity.
The third chart shows the Electronic Materials Expenditures data graphically. This is a striking chart. In the first weekly report in this new series, we saw that traditional library functions were in a steady state or declining but we have seen in the second report that programs offered by libraries and attendance at them have grown and from these expenditure figures, we can infer, as expected, a second area of growth: digital resources.
Here is this week’s chapter: W4_Select_Expenditures
Stephen Abram
Executive Director, FOPL