Developing Tools to Calculate Space Availability, Establish Collection Distribution, and Determine Growth Rates: A Case Study

Abstract

In order to effectively assess space needs, libraries must first determine their space availability, establish their collection distribution, and calculate their growth rates. At the University of Miami, two tools were developed to adequately calculate these figures: a space availability spreadsheet and a collection distribution spreadsheet. This article will focus on the specific steps taken to develop, implement, and utilize these instruments.

KEYWORDS:

• measuring collections
• collection distribution
• collection management
• overcrowded stacks
• stacks maintenance
• floor plans
• Excel spreadsheets

Notes

The author would like to thank Meiyolet Mendez, Scott Britton, and the Otto G. Richter Library's Access Services Department for their support in writing this article.

1. The ARL Collections statistics are available in Excel spreadsheets in the ARL website (http://www.arl.org/stats/annualsurveys/arlstats/statxls.shtml) from 1999–2008. Each year's Summary Data-Collections (Part 1) (Universities) included the average number of volumes added and average number of volumes; these figures were used to calculate yearly and cumulative percentages of growth.