Comparing Collection Growth Year Over Year

What Is the Year-Over-Year Growth Chart?

The Year-Over-Year Collection Growth chart appears at the bottom of the Books Analytics page. It is a grouped bar chart that compares how many books were added to the catalog each month for:

• Current Year — the calendar year you are currently in
• Previous Year — the calendar year before it

Each month on the horizontal axis shows two bars side by side, one for each year, so you can instantly see whether acquisitions are up or down compared to this time last year.

Where to Find It

Go to Reports → Books Analytics in the admin sidebar, or navigate to /admin/books-analytics. Scroll to the bottom of the page.

How to Read the Chart

• Taller bar = more books added that month.
• Current Year bar taller than Previous Year bar = collection growing faster than last year.
• Previous Year bar taller = acquisition pace has slowed compared to last year.
• Both bars roughly equal = consistent growth pace.

What This Tells You

Use this chart to:

• Identify acquisition gaps — If you see months with very low bars (especially in the current year), you may need to accelerate purchasing.
• Plan budgets — Historical growth patterns help forecast how much catalog expansion you can expect per budget cycle.
• Demonstrate progress — This chart is useful evidence when presenting library growth to school administrators or during DepEd inspections.

Tips

• A drop in the second half of the current year is normal — those months have not yet occurred, so the bars will be empty or low.
• Combine this chart with the Never Borrowed and Collection Health data to assess not just growth quantity but growth quality.