Budget and book stock calculations
CILIP* recommends quality library books for every pupil to provide a basic stock of sufficient range and interest to support the curriculum and leisure needs of all the children.
This excludes textbooks, structured readers, encyclopaedias and class sets.
Ø Smaller schools need proportionately more items per pupil, so schools with fewer than 100 pupils should aim for a minimum base figure of 1300 quality library books.
Ø Books wear out or become outdated and the average life expectancy of
a book is 10 years (for some it is a lot less!) so schools should work on
10% replacement per annum, but not necessarily like for like.
Ø The annual library budget should cover at least the cost of replacing
10% of library stock, with additional funding made available to bring resources up to a suitable level.
Remember to include any School Library Service books borrowed or bought.
Some calculations useful for benchmarking
· To calculate your library stock per pupil, divide the number of library books by the number of pupils.
o Does your library stock meet the CILIP benchmark of 13 books per pupil?
o Is the range balanced and appropriate for the needs of the pupils?
· To calculate the stock renewal rate, divide the total library stock by the number of library books purchased last year + the number of books exchanged via SLS last year.
o Effective use of the School Library Service exchange could assist your school to meet the 10% stock renewal recommendation.
· To calculate the minimum bookfund needed to replace stock: divide the total stock by 10 and multiply by £10
(average cost of library books for primary age children)
For many schools these figures can only be rough estimates, but even so they will assist the self-evaluation process by helping you to formulate a view. If you have concerns about "extreme" figures, talk to your local School Library Service library adviser .
*CILIP is the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals
