What is the Economic Value of a Library?

An Indiana University report has confirmed the economic value of the state’s public libraries: a total market value of goods and services estimated at $629.9 million and a return of $2.38 on each dollar of investment. The November report, by the Indiana Business Research Center at IU’s Kelley School of Business, concludes that public libraries are a good value, serving as “an important channel for literacy, education, and information.”...Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette, Jan. 8

Many of our patrons know the value of having a library in our little city. They surf the web, check out entertaining videos and DVD's. They bring their children to Free Reading Time and Mommy & me classes. They also check out books, magazines and CD's. They can do this for free if they are tax payers in the city and for a nominal fee of $5.00 per month if they pay taxes outside the city. Our city has a long history of funding a library with public money. Our operating budgets come from the city budgets. As a library card holder you also have very cheap access to our interlibrary loan system ($2 per item for postage), which gives you access to the collection of hundreds of public library systems around the country.

Just think what a bargain you are getting! If you purchased a computer and internet service it could run you at least $500 for the computer and at least $10.95 monthly for internet. If you took your child to a preschool for a class it would cost you at least $40 a month. Buy paperbacks? They cost on average $6.99 each. Magazines can run into the $40 range for a years subscription. Newspapers can run you from a $1 a day to $5 a day, if you get more than one. CD's often cost $13.99 at discount stores and DVD will cost $19.99 to buy or if you rent your movies plan to pay upwards of $3.49 each. Totaling a whopping $636.41 if you got just one of each of these items. If every resident in Brigham City paid that amount it would total approximately, $11,455,380.oo!

So the answer is yes, we contribute to the economics of the people of our city. We help them save money. Not to mention the added economic benefits of education, literacy and information.

So when our library wanted to build a new building and the opponents said, "We can't afford it!" I think that they did not recognize the value we bring to our community. What do you think? Are we worth the cost?

Michele, Children's Librarian