By the Numbers

These figures and graphs capture the impact and development of the WashU Libraries’ collections, core services, remote support, outreach efforts, and more for fiscal year (FY) 2026 (July 2025 through June 2026).

Figures include all WashU Libraries except where otherwise indicated.

Collections | Circulation & Usage | Expanding Digital Resources | Institutional Repositories | Instruction & Outreach | Reference & Research Support | Events & Engagement |
People | Space & Usage | Expenditures

Collections

E-books	2,760,824
Print books	2,076,991
E-journals	252,109
Print journals	72,244
Databases	883
Other formats*	682,359
Total research collections base	5,845,410

*Other formats include microforms, physical and digital video and music, manuscripts, architectural drawings, photographs, maps, etc.

Circulation & Usage

Repository downloads	5,924,051
E-journals viewed/used	3,068,522
E-books viewed/used	175,592
Print circulations	66,983
Inter-institutional loans	12,691
Inter-institutional borrowed	12,120

Expanding Digital Resources

Images digitized	31,536
Hours of audiovisual materials digitized	398

Institutional Repositories

Institutional repository holdings are between WashU Libraries and Becker; total university repository holdings amount to 61,445.

WashU Libraries Repository Holdings

WashU Scholarly Repository	26,283
WashU Research Data	237
Scholarly Repository (Open Scholarship) Journals	9,055
Total WashU Libraries Repositories	35,575

Becker Repository Holdings

Digital Commons@Becker	25,813
Digital Commons Data@Becker	57
Total Becker Repositories	25,870

Instruction & Outreach

Instruction sessions	1,410
Instruction number of participants	19,161
Number of disciplines for instruction sessions	40

Reference & Research Support

Reference consultations	7,783
Reference consultations per day	21
Data Services help sessions	392
Chats and support tickets addressed	2,556

Events & Engagement*

Public events	129
Event attendees	3,952
Social media followers (main @WashULibraries accounts only)	4,521
Website views	3,877,645
Search box uses	163,136
Searches per day	447

*Does not include Bernard Becker Medical Library, the Law Library, and the Brown School Library

People

Total full-time staff	201
Recruitments*	7
New positions*	1

*Does not include Bernard Becker Medical Library, the Law Library, and the Brown School Library

Libraries Space & Usage*

Collections	125,452
General collections	101,155
Special collections	24,297
Staff space	52,668
User space	68,636
Quiet study	40,555
Collaborative	26,738
Exhibition viewing	1,508
Instruction space	5,220
Total*	250,007*

*Figures do not include Bernard Becker Medical Library, the Law Library, and the Brown School Library. Some spaces are multi-purpose and counted in more than one category.

Visitors

Total visitors

846,260

Room Reservations*

Total reservations	16,574
Unique users	3,839

*Does not include Bernard Becker Medical Library, the Law Library, and the Brown School Library

FY26 Expenditures

*Personnel includes fringe benefits