National Diet Library Newsletter
No. 173, June 2010
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NDL budget for fiscal year 2010
This is a translation of the article of the same title
in the NDL Monthly Bulletin No. 589 (Apr. 2010).
The national budget bill for the fiscal year 2010 passed the National Diet on March 24, 2010. The total amount of the initial budget appropriated for the NDL is 21,130,130,000 yen for the fiscal year 2010 (April 2010 - March 2011). Compared with the previous year, the total amount is reduced by some 454 million yen.
The composition of the total budget is:
- Personnel expenses: 43.7% (43.3% in FY2009)
- Acquisition of library materials: 11.8% (11.7% in FY2009)
- Development of information systems: 18.3% (16.4% in FY2009)
- Office expenses: 19.5% (20.7% in FY2009)
- Buildings and facilities: 6.7% (7.9% in FY2009)
Major expenditures of the budget 2010 are as follows:
1. Upgrading research on science and technology
In order to further upgrade research on science and technology in the legislative research service which assists the legislation of the Diet, special research will be conducted on specific themes in cooperation with outside specialists and special agencies. The results of the research are to be issued as a report. It is also planned to selectively translate reports by S&T policy assessment agencies abroad and to publish the Japanese version with the bibliographic notes attached. For the above expenditure, about 25 million yen is approved.
2. Optimizing operation and system
(1) Construction of the next Digital Library Infrastructure System
The Digital Library Infrastructure System is the backbone on which the services and operation of the NDL depend. We are planning to replace the present system in two years, to make our service catch up with the current information environment and to optimize our operation and system. The expenditure approved is approximately 442 million yen.
(2) Introduction of the next network system
Around 76 million yen was approved for expenditure to update the network system, in order to further improve the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the system supporting the advanced information service.
(3) Introduction of the cross-ministerial system
The present stand-alone system of in-library operational management is to be shifted to a cross-ministerial system to optimize the operation and system. For this purpose, approximately 36 million yen was approved.
3. Operating digital archives
A digital archiving system to collect, preserve and provide digital information has been constructed since FY2005. In the first supplementary budget of FY2009, a budget was approved to carry out large scale digitization involving about 900,000 books in the NDL collection. Moreover the web archiving project is to be implemented accompanied with the amended National Diet Library Law enacted in April 2010. Consequently, 738 million yen was approved in FY2010 for the operating cost of the system, the equipment and system to store digitized book data and Internet resources. For the cost of digital stacks, a sum of 691 million yen was approved in FY 2010 to install the additional storage, on the condition of the 5-year acts bearing national treasury liabilities* as with the previous year.
*If an act incurring liabilities on the national treasury is approved, it is possible to conclude a contract for multiple years, even though Japan has a single-year budget system.
4. Maintaining Buildings and facilities
(1) Reinforcing the Main Building against earthquakes
To strengthen the structure of the Main Building against earthquakes, a repairing cost amounting to 24 million yen was appropriated for the second year of this project. For this project, the planning cost was appropriated in the initial budget of FY2009, and in the supplementary budget of the same year the actual cost of repairs was authorized on the condition of the acts bearing national treasury liabilities, the sum of 2,583 million yen for five years. In this connection around 398 million yen was appropriated for the first year.
(2) Buried cultural property investigation for expansion of International Library of Children's Literature
To improve its function as the national center of children's literature, the construction of a new annex building of the International Library of Children's Literature has been planned, and the design work was started in FY2009. Prior to the construction, a buried cultural property is to be investigated and the necessary groundwork of the site will be carried out in two years from FY2010. Relating to the above expenditure, some of 78 million yen was allocated on the condition of an act incurring liabilities on the national treasury for two years from FY2010 and 33 million yen was approved for the first year.
Amounts of National Diet Library's FY2010 Expenditure Budget
(1,000yen)
| (Item) National Diet Library | 19,718,007 |
| ・Personnel costs | 9,242,294 |
| ・Regular office expenses | 250,655 |
| ・Legislative research | 272,005 |
| ・Acquisition of materials | 2,496,684 |
| of which recompense for deposit of publication | 390,249 |
| ・Development of information systems | 3,859,141 |
| ・Tokyo Main Library operations | 1,984,047 |
| ・International Library of Childrens Literature operation | 431,013 |
| ・Kansai-kan operation | 1,182,168 |
| (Item) Expenses for facilities | 1,412,123 |
| ・Improvement of quake-resistance of the Main Building | 24,031 |
| ・Burial cultural asset investigation for expansion of the International Library of Children’s Literature | 33,143 |
| ・Renovation of the Annex of the Tokyo Main Library | 1,220,195 |
| ・Maintenance of the Tokyo Main Library | 13,254 |
| ・Improvement of the International Library of Children’s Literature | 121,500 |
| Total | 21,130,130 |
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