ACRL Survey: U.S. Academic Library Visits Up 10% as Budgets Stay Flat

What does the new ACRL survey show? U.S. academic libraries are seeing more visitors and running almost entirely on digital collections, while their budgets stay flat and their staffing slips. The Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, published the report The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2025 Annual Survey on October 13, 2026.

The report covers fiscal year 2025, which is the 2024–25 academic year. ACRL weights the results so they represent all U.S. academic libraries, not just the ones that answered.

The only national count left

There is a reason this year's edition carries more weight than usual. The federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, known as IPEDS, dropped its Academic Libraries component after fiscal 2024. ACRL says that leaves its own annual survey as the only source of comprehensive national data on U.S. academic libraries.

For anyone who sells into that market, from university presses to ebook aggregators, that is the number set everyone will now be quoting.

The headline numbers

Staff. The median academic library has 7.6 full-time-equivalent staff. That is slightly lower than in 2024, and the ratio of students to staff has gone up.

Spending. Median total annual library spending is $470,000, not counting fringe benefits. Libraries spend $523 per full-time-equivalent student, exactly the same as in 2024. ACRL points out what that means once inflation is factored in: less real buying power.

Collections and circulation. Digital now dominates. Electronic resources make up 79.7% of total collection holdings and 98.2% of total circulation.

Visits. Foot traffic rose by about 10% compared with 2024, to a median of 53,250 visits a year.

Help desks. Libraries reported a median of 838 reference transactions and consultations in 2025. Almost a third of those, 29.3%, happened virtually.

Busier, with less

ACRL places the findings against a tough backdrop for higher education: enrollment shifts and growing financial pressure. Its summary is blunt. The 2025 numbers, it says, show that academic libraries are struggling to secure the money and staff they need to keep core services running and to adapt.

At the same time, people keep coming through the doors. ACRL describes libraries as "vital hubs" that provide community learning space, access to resources and help navigating "the rapidly changing information ecosystem."

That combination of more visits, flat per-student spending and slightly thinner staff is the story in one line.

Where to get the detail

Survey data going back to 1998 is available to subscribers through ACRL's Benchmark: Library Metrics and Trends service, which lets libraries compare themselves with peers. ACRL is also running a free webinar on the findings at 11:00 a.m. Central on Thursday, November 5.

Why it matters for authors and publishers

Academic sales are an ebook business now. When 98.2% of circulation is digital, a scholarly or crossover title that is not available through library ebook channels is close to invisible on campus. If you publish nonfiction with any academic audience, check that your distributor reaches library platforms.

Flat budgets mean harder choices. Spending per student did not move, and ACRL itself says that is a cut once inflation is counted. Price increases on library licenses will meet more resistance, and smaller publishers may find it harder to get added to collections.

Libraries are still physical places people use. A roughly 10% jump in visits is a reminder that campus libraries host talks, displays and study space. For authors with academic or regional appeal, events and outreach through university libraries remain worth pursuing.

The data gap is real. With IPEDS no longer counting academic libraries, ACRL's survey becomes the reference point in budget arguments, publisher pitches and policy debates. Expect to see these figures cited a lot.

Sources

• American Library Association / ACRL: The State of U.S. Academic Libraries: Findings from the ACRL 2025 Annual Survey (October 13, 2026)
• Association of College and Research Libraries: acrl.org