To assist the budgeting process at the Stanford University Libraries a study was undertaken to determine the extent to which the cost of obtaining scholarly publications was increasing and the degree to which the volume of scholarly publications grows annually, affecting the number of documents which the library must purchase to ensure adequate coverage. In forecasting book prices, it was decided to use a trend line of past price increases. Average prices paid by Stanford from 1968 to 1974 were computed for three kinds of materials: English language books, which cover about 17 percent of the library budget; foreign language books; and serials, representing another 37 percent of the budget. Expenditures for government documents were also computed for the years 1972 to 1974. Results indicated that about 55 percent of the library's material expenditures have annually risen between 8 and 13 percent for each of the last six years. Worldwide book production has also increased. Therefore, it was recommended that an annual maintenance increase of no less then 12 percent, but more realistically 14 percent, would be necessary in each of the next two budget years if the library is to maintain the level of growth to meet Stanford's scholarly needs. (Author/SL)