The Library as a Business: Mapping the Pervasiveness of Financial Relationships in Today's Library

This article is a trend analysis, using the college library as a model, which maps internal and external financial contacts in order to develop an awareness of the pervasive complexity of library financial dealings. Topics for consideration include: the degree to which all the library units have financial transactions within the parent organization and with outside providers of goods and services, placing the library in perspective as a component of the parent organization in terms of financial credits and debits. The library is considered as a unit of the worldwide financial infrastructure. This article will also provide an analysis of financial causal factors reponsible for increasing library organizational complexity as well as trends in financial relationships that can lead to the provision of top quality library services