Demonstrating the Library’s ROI :: PLA

Worth Their Weight

Demonstrating the Library’s ROI

Public Libraries Online: 7.12.2016 by Paula Wilson

A recent article in the New York Times, “Denying New York Libraries the Fuel They Need,”  stated that the New York Public Library had over 37 million visitors in the last fiscal year. In contrast, the combined attendance at major sporting events for the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Jets, and Giants totaled only nine million people, yet the city’s budget for libraries pales in comparison to the budget for stadiums.[1]

What we see in New York City repeats itself over and over as city governments across the country have been clamoring for sport franchise bragging rights, subsidies, and public funding of stadiums. Only when local officials understand the value public libraries bring to their communities and view them as investments will we see budgets parallel to their importance.

Why is that? Well, as you know, libraries are not meant to be a revenue stream, although a library will generate some minimal income in the form of late fees, used-book sales, book bags, ear pods, and the like. If local officials do not recognize the human capital that libraries create, they will never see them as an investment but more so as an expense. But what if local and state officials acknowledged that investing in the creation of human capital pays off?  READ MORE @

What's Your Library Worth? | I Love Libraries

a general Library Use Value calculator

for a Return on Investment Calculator: for every $1.00 you pay in taxes, you receive this $ value in return

search (Library Return on Investment Calculator)

and the name of your library or a nearby library