Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-130) and index.

Section I: Existing state of accounting in the library science field -- Chapter 1: Job responsibilities of acquisitions librarians -- Changing environment of library acquisitions -- What current advertisements in ALA JobList tell us about acquisitions librarian positions -- Assessing the accounting and financial composition of acquisitions librarianship -- Description of purchasing agent in government agency as a model for acquisitions -- Chapter 2: Fiscal management responsibilities of library directors -- How library director jobs are described in ALA JobList -- Investments -- Description of a financial manager as a model for financial responsibilities of a library director -- Notes -- Chapter 3: Acquisitions or accounting preparation in library and information science programs -- Beyond coursework -- Chapter 4: Necessary skill sets -- Collection development, teamwork, and communication -- Major resource management processes -- Contracts and licenses -- Acquisitions and the life cycle of an electronic resource -- Creating diagrams, flowcharts, and mindmaps to represent processes and cycles -- Accounting and budgeting -- Conclusion -- Notes --

Section II: Accounting -- Chapter 5: Generally accepted accounting principles for different types of libraries -- Federal libraries -- Private nonprofit organizations -- For-profit libraries -- Publically supported libraries -- Accounting themes (reporting by program, accounting for collections, accounting for investments, and interpreting financial activity through budget reporting) -- Funds -- Investments -- Collections -- Interpreting financial activity through budget reporting -- Notes -- Chapter 6: The philosophy of accounting and how transactions are measured -- Chapter 7: Connecting library activities to financial performance using basic accounting practices -- Basic accounting concepts : classifying, recording, summarizing, and reporting -- Recording and summarizing -- Recording and classification -- Account code-fund code-detail fund code -- Chapter 8: Reporting -- Creating the ledger in the acquisitions module -- Relationship of acquisitions subledger to general ledger -- Chapter 9: Internal controls -- Reconciling transactions between multiple information sources -- How to reconcile between the acquisitions module and ERM system-- Section III: Budgeting -- Chapter 10: Philosophy of budgets -- Notes -- Chapter 11: Practicalities of budgets -- Budgeting technique -- Beginning the budget process -- Monitoring the budget -- Using budgets to help control costs -- Afterword.

"Any competent librarian can have good accounting skills--after all, attention to detail, correct classification, and effective documentation are essential to both kinds of tasks. This book covers accounting concepts, budgeting, and government regulations that pertain to libraries"--