Operating expenditures are the current and recurrent costs necessary to support the provision of library services. Significant costs, especially benefits and salaries, that are paid by other taxing agencies (government agencies with the authority to levy taxes) "on behalf of" the library may be included if the information is available to the reporting agency. Only such funds that are supported by expenditure documents (such as invoices, contracts, payroll records, etc.) at the point of disbursement should be included. Do not report the value of free items as expenditures. Do not report estimated costs as expenditures. Do not report capital expenditures under this category.

This includes all operating expenditures from the library budget for all materials in print, microform, electronic, and other formats considered part of the collection, whether purchased, leased, or licensed. Exclude charges or fees for interlibrary loans and expenditures for document delivery.