Public

A study reported in 1979 at the Oklahoma City/County Metropolitan Library System showed thatduring FY 1978-79, for an uncataloged paperback collection of 76,862 items, each item circulated an average of 4.75 times during the year. This compared to an average circulation of 2.31 times per item during the same period for a collection of 465,326 cataloged hardback books.  (Source) 

        Ibid…. showed thatduring the month of July 1979 the average number of circulations per volume for 15,784 cataloged adult hardback volumes purchased in FY 1976-77 was .25, for 18,163 volumes purchased in FY 1977-78 was .33, and for 18,569 volumes purchased in FY 1978-79 was .64. This compared to the average number of circulations per volume for adult uncataloged paperbacks of .32 for a group of 6,743 volumes purchased in FY 1976-77. .54 for a group of 11,760 volumes purchased in FY 1977-78, and .87 for 19,138 volumes purchased in FY 1978-79.                  (Source) 

        Ibid…. showed thatduring the month of July 1979 the average number of circulations per volume for 4,723 juvenile cataloged hardback volumes purchased in FY 1976-77 was 1.20, for 4,777 volumes purchased in FY 1977-78 was 1.18, and for 4,771 volumes purchased in 1978-79 was 1.28. This compares to the average number of circulations per volume for juvenile uncataloged paperbacks of .79 for 2,973 volumes purchased in FY 1976-77. 1.06 for 3,349 volumes purchased in 1977-78, and 1.09 for 3,037 volumes purchased in FY 1978-79.                   (Source) 

        Ibid…. showed thatfor 18.996 adult hardback books and 19,126 adult paperback books purchased in FY 1976-77 the cost ratio based on purchase price alone of hardback to paperback was 4.1 to 1 while the cost per circulation (again based on purchase price only) of hardback to paperback was 4.2 to 1. For slightly more materials in FY 1977-78 the cost ratio of hardbound to paperback was 3.7 to 1 and the cost per circulation was 3.89 to 1.                     (Source) 

        Ibid…. showed thatfor 5.624 juvenile hardback books and 6,031 paperback books purchased in FY 1976-77 the cost ratio based on purchase price alone of hardback to paperback was 5.9 to 1 while the cost per circulation (again based on purchase price only) of hardback to paperback was 2.7 to 1. For approximately the same number of materials purchased in FY 1977-78 the cost ratio of hardbound to paperback was 4.8 to 1, and the cost per circulation was 2.6 to 1.                        (Source) 

A 1982 survey of American and Canadian public libraries (sample size: 279; response rate: 68 or 24%) showed that approximately 27.4% (±5.9%, representing a 95% confidence interval for the population at large) of the books purchased by responding libraries were mass market paperbacks while approximately 11% (±6.3% representing a 95% confidence interval for the population at large) of the circulating collections were mass market paperbacks. These percentages of books purchased were statistically independent of the institutional characteristics (e.g., size of population served) of the libraries.                 (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that, while approximately 11% of the circulating collections consisted of mass market paperbacks, these books accounted for approximately 18.2% of the book circulation, with hardcover books accounting for the rest.                 (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe circulation ratio of hardcover books to paperback books for matched titles in a given year was overall 1 to 1.3 while the overall ratio of cost of hardcover books to paperback books (purchase price only) was 1 to .26. The only large aberration in the overall circulation ratio when subcategories were considered was the subcategory “movie and tv tie-ins,” which had a circulation ratio of hardback to paperback of 1 to 3.4.                 (Source)

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

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