1- Libraries are less busy than before Covid. This is valid for the thirteen countries which have this data. But France can boast a number of physical entries per student above the European average in 2022 (29.4 vs. 25.3).
2- Documentary expenditure per student and teacher-researcher is down 10% over ten years. In France they amount to 56 euros, compared to the European average of 128 euros (without Switzerland).
3- The number of physical document loans per student has been more than halved over 10 years. The decline accelerated in 2020 and 2021 (health decline). But this observation must be put into perspective, because “in many establishments, when the digital version of a document coexists with its printed version, the first is prioritized and often replaces the second”raises the report. And as libraries have tended to extend the duration of the loan, it would be more relevant to count the duration of a document’s stay with a reader rather than the act of lending itself.
4- Ten countries note a strong increase in the consultation of electronic periodical articles by students and teacher-researchers (+89% in ten years). Over this period, the Netherlands devoted more than 90% of documentary expenditure to digital resources. For France, the number of electronic books consulted per student in 2022 was 14.5 (+207% in 10 years), compared to 27 for the average of ten European countries.
5- The surface area of spaces intended for the public has generally increased, but less quickly than the student population. What is increasing: the number of group work places.
To free up space for public reception while reducing the areas reserved for collections on media, the United Kingdom is, for example, considering shared document warehouses on a national scale. The system exists for Parisian universities, through CTLES, which rents space to them in Bussy-Saint-Georges, or manages their collections by removing duplicates between two libraries. It also coordinates the loan of periodicals between establishments on a national scale.
6- French weekly opening hours, despite a slight increase, are below the European average : 60 hours, compared to 65 on average in 2022.
7- The number of FTEs of library staff per 1000 students is decreasing (-12% in ten years) and is lower in France than elsewhere (3.4 in France vs. 4.9 on average in 2022). But the budget dedicated by the French BUs is growing, because it is necessary to reward the gain in seniority of the agent, and his level of technicality, the study noting that more and more fall into categories A and B. If France is characterized by the lowest proportion of the share of documentary expenditure in total expenditure (22% vs. 35% on average, European), it is also it which dedicates the largest share of its expenditure to personnel (69 % vs. 51% on European average).
The complete study can be found ici.
