U. library ranked 16th in the United States

The University was ranked 16th out of 108 universities in a listing of the top college libraries by overall size. The list was published in this month's Chronicle for Higher Education. The University's library system ranked fifth in the Ivy League, with Harvard University leading the pack at the number one spot. Princeton University's library ranked directly below the University at 17th place, and Dartmouth College and Brown University were a distant 68th and 69th. The ranking is obtained by considering the number of volumes held, the amount of volumes added during the previous fiscal year, the quantity of current serials, the total operating expenditures and the size of the permanent staff, the Chronicle states. The University has over four million volumes, added 264,165 volumes over the past year, has 33,024 current serials, has total expenditures of $19, 827, 081 and has 288 permanent staff members. All statistics are consistent with the University's ranking in previous years -- except that the amount of volumes added was the greatest of any university. Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost Joe Zucca said the jump in the number of acquired volumes this year pushed the University up from its usual ranking in the mid-twenties to the 16th place. But he said this ranking is "artificial" because the University included holdings in the Center for Judaic Studies -- which it acquired this fiscal year -- in its figure of volumes added. This inflated the number of newly acquired volumes by about 100,000 because the Center for Judaic Studies was inaccurately listed as part of the "main campus" in the University's report to the Association of Research Libraries -- the agency which supplied the rankings to the Chronicle. Despite the fact that the University's library holdings took an "artificial" leap this year, Zucca said the University's usual ranking in the mid-twenties is still a "very good number when you compare it to our staff number." He added that "in terms of quality we rank right at the top." "Quality is something you can't always measure," Zucca said. "Just because you you have 20 million books doesn't mean you have a good library." The "excellent" staff, electronic catalog system and special collections make the University's library top-notch, he added.