Reasons for libraries: Value for money

81% think libraries are essential or very important:

From Oct 2010 Ipsos/Mori poll on public libraries

• Australia: £1 paid into public libraries results in £2.30 paid back - Queensland Library Dividend Report.
• Australia: £1 paid into public libraries results in £3.50 paid back – Victoria State Library Report / Prometheus, 2012.
• Australia: £1 paid into public libraries results in £2.90 paid back - Australian LIA, May 2013.
• New Zealand: £1 paid into public library services results in at least £4 paid back.  “surveys in Australia, USA and the UK all return figures ranging from $4 to $6 of return of investment”, LIANZA (New Zealand) “Questions for political parties.
• USA: $1 paid into library results in $2.86 paid back - University of Toledo study, 2012.
• USA: $1 paid into library results in $4.42 paid back - Texas State Libraries and Archives Commission, 2013.
• UK: £1 paid into library results in £1.60 paid back – Bolton Council, 2005.
• See this list (from page 35) for a large bibliography of articles on the financial benefit of libraries.

• Contribution of Australian Public Libraries - Video quotes research showing 31,000 jobs are traceable to libraries.
• Two-thirds of all books read in the UK are library books.  Tim Coates in his post of 24/9/11 analysed lending and purchasing data: 230m books bought in UK each year but 50% of these are gifts and not read.  310m books borrowed from libraries each year, almost all of which are read. “Most reading is done either by retired people or people who are out of work- and by chlidren. Those figures are clear in almost every library management system and in the DCMS ‘taking part’ survey.”

Libraries “… are very different than bookstores because they provide enormous low cost access to reading. Two-thirds of reading is books that come from public libraries, while one-third of reading material comes from bookstores. Therefore, libraries are not just a player in the game, they are the player. People who don’t see that are not conscious of how important libraries are. There’s a gulf between the libraries and publishers and it’s coming from 150 years of tradition.” Tim Coates.

• When libraries are adequately funded, people use them – see the record number of users at Hillingdon or any new library such as Portishead.
• Reports that claim library usage is declining take no account of the number of libraries that have closed or the lack of investment (note 25% decrease in bookfund last year). Alan Gibbons believes the 320 million visits per year to public libraries could double with proper leadership of the service.
• If one takes virtual visits into account, usage is increasing.
• Libraries are cheap to run.
• There’s an easy way to calculate how much public library use saves you at what is our library worth to you.  This webapage calculates how much your library is worth to the community.
• When given a choice of losing their library or increasing council tax, people choose the library – for example, in Wiltshire or in Doncaster.
• The same is the case, with many more examples in the USA, where there is a strong upward trend in library use.
• In the USA, a FCC report makes clear that libraries are highly used (p.216-7), especially for internet access, are proving essential during emergencies and usage is increasing.
• Measuring everything by cost rather than value can lead to massive problems – “This approach is tearing apart the invisible bonds of duty and loyalty, belonging and togetherness in the name of an ideology that nothing is more important than money,” said Phillip Pullman.
• In these hard-nosed times, one of the key weapons libraries have of defending their worth is to point out their economic value.  Two resources have been produced (Dec 2012) by Carl Clayton (in his private capacity) that will be useful in this regard:
  • The economic value of public libraries - Depression costs the Uk £12bn. Bibliotherapy – as well as library’s help in job hunting etc – can greatly help those suffering from depression. “Every pound spent on library services will create a future saving in costs for the council. It is not possible to quantify this saving exactly but a comparison of the limited cost of the library service with the large costs of depression (not to mention other illnesses) indicates that this would be significant.”
  • Value of public library services - Covers “published reports that consider the value of public library services in a quantitative sense.”  Lists and summarises some very useful documents including some unfamiliar ones such as a Norwegian study showing that libraries have a cost benefit ratio of 1:4