Price of materials and collection development in larger public libraries

Questionnaires were sent to public library systems in the 200 largest cities in the United States to learn more about the role of price in the selection of materials. A 34 percent response rate yielded 67 usable responses. When ranked on a scale from 1 to 7, with 7 being least important, list price had a median ranking of 5, while likely community demand was ranked 1. When faced with price increases, these collection developers tended to select fewer duplicates, fewer periodical and annual publications, and fewer nonbook items. About 26 percent of those responding had adopted an informal or formal price ceiling for selections. About 66 percent of these librarians were likely be more price conscious when selecting nonbook items. Price ceilings for categories and formats are discussed.