The relationship between student demand for library books by subject area and the students' majors and courses undertaken was studied using a library's automated circulation system. During 1980-1982, book checkout at the university library declined 22 percent. History had the greatest decline in checkouts per student. Other fields with larger enrollments but large declines in library use were: secondary education, educational leadership, English, library science, journalism, nursing, special education, and political science. The greatest declines for subject areas with over 1,000 checkouts were in the areas of political science and education. The subject areas with over 1,000 checkouts were mathematics-computers and criminal justice. Heavy use majors were dominated by the liberal arts, while light use majors were dominated by utilitarian subjects. It is suggested that declines in library book checkouts may be related to a decrease in the number of volumes acquired per year by the university library. Other possible reasons for these declines may include curriculum changes, decreasing print literacy, and the availability of other sources of information (television and computers). (SW)