Life cycle costs of library collections: Creation of effective performanceand cost metrics for library resources

An important issue for research librarians is the life cycle cost of acquir ing and maintaining a collection. While purchase costs are easy to identify , associated acquisition, cataloging, circulation, and maintenance expenses are difficult to measure and attribute to specific collections. This paper develops a methodology to determine the life cycle costs of collections ba sed on readily available statistical data collected annually by the Associa tion of Research Libraries (ARL). ARL cost data (e.g., salaries and wages, materials expenditures, and operating expenses) for a specific library are allocated to collections (e.g., manuscripts, serials, and microforms) based on the size of the collection and its relative space requirements. By aggr egating allocated costs, total life cycle costs for a collection can be est imated. Results of this research indicate that life cycle costs of collecti ons are many multiples of their purchase costs. Results further suggest tha t the life cycle costs of monograph collections overwhelm the costs of othe r collections in research libraries-the cost structure of a research librar y is largely driven by its monograph collection. These results should prove useful in efforts to control costs and improve performance in research lib raries.