Contact: Melissa Cox Norris, Director of Library Communications, (513) 556-1558 or melissa.norris@uc.edu
May 17, 2005 - At 47, the University of Cincinnati Libraries are ranked among the top 50 U.S. and Canadian research university libraries, according to the latest report by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). A decade ago, UC's libraries (University Libraries, Medical Center Libraries, and the Law Library) were ranked 78th.
"We are very proud to be in the top 50 of this elite group," said Victoria A. Montavon, dean and university librarian.
The ARL considers five key factors in compiling its rankings each year:
Total number of volumes held (UC: 3,050,113)
Gross volumes added (UC: 87,357)
Current serials (UC: 39,787)
Total expenditures (UC: $19,502,676)
Number of professional and support staff (UC: 168)
The annual ARL statistics also measure activity in such service areas as reference, circulation, interlibrary lending, and library presentations. The UC Libraries made a strong showing on all of these fronts in 2003-04.
Four other Ohio research libraries are included in the 2003-04 ARL rankings: Ohio State University (21), Ohio University (81), Kent State University (103), and Case Western Reserve University (108).
Looking ahead to UC's 2005-06 entry into the Big East conference, ARL peer institutions rank as follows: Pittsburgh (23), Rutgers (29), Connecticut (55), Notre Dame (58), Georgetown (59), Syracuse (84), and Louisville (88). The top five ARL libraries for 2003-04 are Harvard, Yale, Toronto, and University of California - Berkeley and Los Angeles.
The Association of Research Libraries was founded in 1932. The University of Cincinnati is one of the founding members of the organization.
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