Book prices and costs for a small-hospital library: a subject analysis

Abstract

An analysis of the Brandon/Hill lists has provided individual price figures to assist the librarian of a small hospital in calculating book costs associated with establishing and maintaining an up-to-date collection suited to institutional needs. For the fifty-three subject categories analyzed, the following were calculated over the past twenty-two years: average price per title, size and cost of the category, number of new titles or editions, percentages price increases, and cost of maintaining a basic collection. Used in conjunction with local purchasing data, these figures can be useful in budget preparation.