Formulas and standards play a needed role in the allocation of library resources, but it is difficult to devise formulas that accurately reflect the various factors that shape a library's needs. This report summarizes the means by which a subcommittee of the Virginia Library Advisory Committee devised a proposed staffing formula for its academic libraries. The subcommittee charged with devising a new formula reviewed past efforts as a means of determining criteria any new formula should meet . Based on this review and on its own research, the committee devised a draft formula , which is discussed.