A comparison of issues and in‐library use of books

For a variety of reasons, librarians are continually obliged to examine the extent to which their bookstocks are used. This obligation may arise out of simple curiosity, to provide comparisons with other time periods or other institutions, or to measure the extent to which prescribed objectives are being reached. Increasingly, because space is limited and some means must be devised of selecting material for relegation to a less expensive form of storage or for withdrawal completely, the criterion set for relegation is usually one of use.