Library Collection Deterioration: A Study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Research Note)

A suroey of bound items in the books tacks of the University of Illinois library at UrbanaChampaign was conducted following the methodology used in the 1979 suroey of the Green Library stacks at Stanford University. A reliable random sampling technique was used. The suroey found that 37.0% of the items at Illinois are seriously deteriorated (paper is embrittled), 33.6% are moderately deteriorated (paper is becoming brittle), and 29.4% are in good condition (paper shows no signs of deterioration). The total cost of the suroey was $1,845.45 (excluding permanent staff salaries). The methodology can be adapted by other libraries for collection condition suroeys.