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Purpose. The University of Rijeka Library has limited financial funds for the acquisition of library materials at their disposal. Based on the existing data on the purchased books usage statistics, this paper aims to determine the efficacy of these acquisitions, that is, if the library users have really borrowed the purchased books. Further more, the paper will try to identify the books that were purchased but not borrowed and explore the reasons why they were not borrowed. Approach/methodolo/design. Based on the reports of the book loans generated by the library software, the usage analysis of the purchased books has been carried out. The analysis was conducted on the monographs which were purchased and borrowed in the period between 2014 and 2018. Findings. The results show that in the researched period mostly domestic books were purchased. The topics and the content of the acquired books correspond to the study programs of the University of Rijeka. High percentage of the purchased books have been borrowed later by the library users. Research limitations/implications. Since the University of Rijeka Library is purchasing only a small number of serial titles, this analysis is limited to the purchased monographs only. Practical implications. The methodology of the analysis can be applied in libraries that can procure the same or similar data reports. It is applicable in the libraries that consider necessary the evaluation of their own acquisition policies from time to time, taking into consideration the usage data on all acquired materials, regardless of the acquisition methods. The analysis results can be used as an argument in the negotiations with the library founders and any other potential library financiers. They can also be used to revise and adjust library acquisition policies. Originality/value. Usually, the collection evaluation methods are used on the entire collections or the library holdings as the whole, regardless of the acquisition methods. This analysis was focused on the books acquired by the specific method, regardless of the library collection each item belongs to. It is intended to explore and evaluate if the financial means were used in the most efficient way, but viewed from the users’ perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]