THE APPLICATION OF LIFE-CYCLE COSTING IN LIBRARIES - A CASE-STUDY BASED ON ACQUISITION AND RETENTION OF LIBRARY-MATERIALS IN THE BRITISH-LIBRARY

The article reports on a life cycle costing study undertaken by the British Library as a means of both forecasting retention costs and of clarifying the relationship between acquisition and retention policies. The need for such a tool is not peculiar to the British Library. Libraries are increasingly interested in reducing costs and allocating resources effectively in the face of competing, demands. Moreover, they are required to demonstrate that they provide value for money. In recent years the cost of library materials and the effects of the increasing prices, particularly of serial titles, on the library budget has received much scrutiny. However, there are many other underlying costs, including costs of selection, accessioning, cataloguing, preservation and storage. Lie Cycle Costing is an accounting concept which takes account of all the significant net expenditures arising during the ownership of an asset. This technique can be effectively applied in library operations, where its use will provide an increased degree of cost consciousness and understanding, and to highlight to a library's parent body and users, and to its management and staff, areas in which overall funding fails to meet expectations and commitments.