ARL Statistics 2024

Abstract

ARL Statistics 2024 is the latest in a series of annual publications that describe the collections, staffing, expenditures, and service activities of 123 of the Association’s 125 member libraries in 2024. These 123 ARL member libraries represent 16 Canadian and 107 US research institutions. Of these institutions, 118 are university libraries; the remaining 5 are public, governmental, and nonprofit research libraries. The university libraries include 16 Canadian and 102 US libraries. Statistics have been collected and published annually for the members of the Association of Research Libraries since 1961–62. Prior to 1961–62, annual statistics for university libraries were collected by James Gerould, first at the University of Minnesota and later at Princeton University.1 These data, covering the years 1907–08 through 1961–62, are now called the Gerould Statistics.2 The complete data series from 1908 represents the oldest and most comprehensive continuing library statistical series in North America. ARL libraries are a relatively small subset of libraries in North America, but they do account for a large portion of academic library resources in terms of assets, expenditures, and the number of users they serve. The total library expenditures of all the 123 member libraries in 2024 was $4.4 billion; of that, approximately $4 billion was spent by the 118 university libraries, and $539 million was spent by the non-university libraries.3 The charts below show how the two types of libraries divide these expenditures differently.