Page 114 - DLIS003_LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Unit 6: Library Finance

Self Assessment Notes

Fill in the blanks:
4. Funds are required on a ……………… basis, this is the paternalistic nature of library.
5. The ……………. grants are generally given for the purchase of books and periodicals,
maintenance of regular services, and for anticipated contingent expenditure.
6. The ……………………. grants are given for specific purposes such as construction of library
building, purchase of furniture and equipment and sometimes for special collections.

7. The third type of grant, known as an ……………….. grant is given on special
recommendations for special purchases.
8. ………………….. can best be used for constructing library buildings, acquiring furniture
and fittings and so on.

6.3 Financial Estimation

By now you have realised the fact that the success of any institution depends upon an adequate
and regular flow of finances. This is true of libraries also. Just like the government, institutions,
individuals and families attempt to make financial estimations of their needs and resources,
6L-cries also have to prepare financial estimates. How to estimate, on what basis, and. how
much finance a library requires depends upon the age, jurisdiction, quantity and quality of
reading material, number of readers, and other factors‘ relating to that particular library.
Some important bases for financial estimation for libraries are:
(i) User population and its composition

(ii) Material to be acquired (media, nature and type of information source)
(iii) Services to be provided vis-à-vis objectives
(iv) Hardware and software requirement
(v) Unsatisfied service pressures, if any, are the most frequently used factors in determining
the financial needs of a library
(vi) Established national and international standards for quality in services often expressed as
minima of materials, personnel and operational funds for a given size of library
(vii) Increase in prices of reading materials and inflation.
Three methods generally used for estimating library finances are discussed below:

6.3.1 Per Capita Method

In this method, a minimum amount per head is fixed which is considered essential for providing
standard library services. The educational and cultural standards of a community, the expectations
of its future ‘needs,’ the per capita income of the society, the average cost of published reading
material, and the salary levels of the library staff are the common factors that go to determine
the per capita library finance in public and academic libraries. The per capita estimate can be
based either on the number either of literate persons or of adults. However, the safest method is
to calculate library finance per head of population.
‘
Tice University Grants Commission Library Committee recommended that a university should
provide ` 15 per student and ` 200 per teacher for acquiring reading material for its library. The

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