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The purpose of this paper is to look at adequacy or inadequacy of budgets for University of Malawi Libraries (UML) from financial years 2004 to 2009.

A case study design was used to collect quantitative data. University budget estimate from 2003/2004 to 2009/2010 financial years were used.

The results of the study show that of five constituent colleges of the University of Malawi, four (80 per cent) of their college libraries are inadequately funded below 6 per cent. The average funding as a percentage of the total college funding for the five UML in the six‐year financial period from 2004 to 2010 are as follows: Bunda College Library 2.7 per cent; Chancellor College Library 3.72 per cent; College of Medicine Library 3.52 per cent; Kamuzu College of Nursing Library 6.27 per cent; and the Polytechnic Library 3.43 per cent. Only Kamuzu College of Nursing Library received a minimum average of 6 per cent of the total college funding.

The study recommends that college librarians should lobby for increased budgets for UML. College librarians should also consider income‐generating activities as a means to supplement funding through government subvention.

There is very little researched information on inadequacy or adequacy of budgeting and funding on UML. This research adds some information on UML budgeting and financing.

To address the issue of poor government funding for Nigerian libraries. This situation has led many librarians over the years to explore the possibility of raising additional funds from alternative sources of income.

Explores the current levels of funding for Nigerian academic libraries and identifies some alternative funding sources. On identifying these sources, the success of alternative sources of income is presented and suggestions are made for funding in the future.

Funding for libraries and information centers in Nigeria is largely through government allocations to the overseeing ministries or institutions. Government funding has been poor, requiring libraries to look for alternative sources of income in order to meet the increasingly sophisticated demand of library users for electronic information services. Several methods for generating income have been identified, explored by many libraries, and discussed in library literature, but have yielded little in the way of additional funding.

On evaluating all the sources of income available to Nigerian academic libraries, this paper suggests that the most stable and reliable source of funds remains with allocations from the federal government. As the support from the government has not been adequate, suggestions are included on areas where the government could raise taxes to support education in general, and libraries specifically, within Nigeria.

In response to recent public library funding deficiencies, many people both inside and outside the field of librarianship have suggested that public libraries need to rely less on traditional government funding and more on alternative funding sources. This chapter reports the results of a review of the research and professional literature relating to government and alternative funding for US public libraries and presents a case study of the West Chester (PA) Public Library, which relies heavily on non-tax funds for its operations. It concludes with an analysis of the major arguments for and against alternative funding for public libraries and a consideration of the implications for public librarianship in the United States.

Not much information is broadly shared about how current system and resource library funding formulas operate. Do the formulas encourage or discourage certain programs or services? How are systems and resource libraries funded across the country? These questions are vital to systems looking for fiscal models that work. Having examined the costs of basic services provided by the seven Colorado regional library service systems and the Colorado Resource Center (CRC) previously in the Bottom Line (Fall 1990, pp. 18–24), this second article reviews the current funding formulas for the systems and the CRC.

This study aims to examine online research guides as a measure of academic library support for students seeking educational funding opportunities.

The library websites of 38 members of a regional academic library consortium were examined for guides that address funding for educational purposes. The guide content was manually reviewed. Information regarding institutional characteristics was gathered from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

Despite relatively few reports of educational funding support in the library literature, online guides exist at 42% of studied institutions. However, few guides are comprehensive and many lack features that promote discoverability. Instructional content – guidance, advice or information beyond resource descriptions – and in-person funding support rarely appear in the studied guides, presenting opportunities for academic libraries to contribute to student retention and success.

This paper provides information on and examples of online guides to educational funding useful to academic libraries looking to support students facing affordability concerns.

This paper contributes to the literature on non-disciplinary uses of online research guides and is the first to survey academic library guides on educational funding opportunities.

This chapter traces the history of digital libraries (DLs) in the United States through the funding sources that have supported DL research and development over the past decade and a half. A set of related questions are addressed: How have the mission and goals of funding agencies affected the types of projects that have been funded? What have been the deliverables from funded projects and how have the goals of the funding agencies shaped those deliverables? Funding agencies have exerted strong influence over research and development in DLs, and different funding agencies have funded different types of projects, with varying sets of concerns for driving the various fields that feed into DLs. This chapter will address the impact that DL funding has had on the development of research in the field of Library and Information Science, as well as on the practice of librarianship.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the nature of funding for collection development activities at Chancellor College Library, University of Malawi, and see how that impacts on the collection development activities of the institution.

A case study methodological approach was used, coupled with a review of the literature, annual financial reports and acquisition statistics.

The results of the study show that funding for collection development activities at Chancellor College Library was inadequate and that inadequacy of funding had seriously affected the library's collection development activities. Due to the prevailing conditions, the library had been forced to rely on donations and exchanges as the principal means of growing its collection.

The study recommends some practical interventions, which, if implemented, could ease the financial difficulties Chancellor College Library faces. The interventions include lobbying for an increase in the materials budget, drawing up proposals for possible funding by both local and international organizations, and the introduction of a library fee to be paid by students.

Research undertakings in the field of collection development in Malawian academic libraries are limited, causing a dearth of literature on the topic. This study is therefore significant in that it will help in some way in filling some of the knowledge gaps that exist in this area.

To document current sources of revenue for Nigerian libraries, and offer suggestions for alternative funding. Nigerian libraries nation‐wide depend mainly on annual budget allocations from the government.

Surveys current literature to determine the current source of funds for each type of library, and then identifies various alternative funding sources that libraries have tried in the past. Each alternative funding source is described, with significant advantages and disadvantages noted when applicable.

Funds for Nigerian library and information services are traditionally derived from a parent institution. These revenues vary from a fixed percentage of an institution's overall budget to an ad hoc arrangement. Most libraries receive far less funding than the percentage that is usually earmarked for them.

Emerging spending patterns and societal pressure require libraries to launch new and sustained initiatives to generate funds internally. Steady exploitation of money‐yielding ventures, such as consulting, soliciting donations and pricing information services, can generate revenue. Libraries can also share resources in order to expand their services.

The US Federal government is a potential source of support for advancing Library and Information Science (LIS) through funding experimentation, innovation, and demonstration. Most agencies are not as much interested in advancing the research front in LIS as they are in LIS contributions that advance other fields. The full potential of federal funding to impact LIS is far from realized. LIS researchers should be aware of each agency's mission as well as the types of research that each one supports. Many people contribute to research agendas but the most influential are researchers themselves. Becoming more successful in winning grants will require researchers to become better grant writers and to collaborate with people outside LIS.