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- 2010-2014: From Community Library to Community-run library: a look at the impact of volunteers
- Pros: reasons for volunteer “community libraries”
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- “The reality is very different”: A volunteer library manager speaks
- Are volunteer libraries statutory or non-statutory?
- Four views on volunteer libraries: Sue Charteris, AnneMarie Naylor, Marylyn Haines-Evans of the WI and Ian Anstice
- The Risk Exposures of Volunteer Libraries
- A crude strategy but here to stay: Biddy Casselden on volunteer public libraries in the United Kingdom
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- Indigenous Knowledge Centres: Queensland Public Libraries finding a niche
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- A Library is not just for Christmas
- The CCC/Tsutaya library miracle in Japan: combined bookshop libraries
- Maker Spaces in Libraries – The state of the art December 2013
- A glimpse of Tokyo library life, by Sue Charteris
- Relative Poverty: A display designed especially for libraries
- Nick Poole on what can we learn from the past to inform the future of public libraries
- A home for the homeless: Rachael Rivera and the Auckland Library Streeties
- Dancing Darth Vaders And Talking To Astronauts: Liam Cookson talks MozFest 2017
- A little less conversation: Nick Poole from CILIP writes about the problems with public libraries and action needed
- The Amazing Grace of Public Libraries (or aromatherapy for local living)
- Angry about cuts to Newport Libraries
- Libraries Taskforce Kathy Settle sets the records straight
- Thema: Graham Bell describes Thema, the new subject classification for the global book industry
- Glossary of common library terms
- LS&S (formally known as LSSI).
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Reasons for libraries: Value for money
Ratio of return on investment noted
- Arts Council England survey showed English would, users and on-users combined, be willing to pay £723m more than currently in order to maintain library services – The Health and Wellbeing Benefits of Public Libraries – 2015.
- 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 £4.30 paid back – Libraries work : The socio-economic value of public libraries to Victorians’ (2018)
- Australia: £1 paid into public libraries results in £2.90 paid back – Australian LIA, May 2013.
- Canada: £1 paid into public libraries results in $5.63 paid back – Toronto Public Library, December 2013.
- Canada: £1 paid into public libraries results in £5.36 paid back – London Public Library, December 2015.
- 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.
- Scotland: £1 paid into public libraries results in £7.90 paid back – SLIC 2015.
- Spain: 1 Euro paid into library results in 2.8 to 3.8 Euros – FESABID. 2014.
- USA: £1 paid into library results in £3.89 paid back – Ohio Library Council. 2016.
- 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.
- USA: $1 paid into library results in $4.64 paid back – Texas State Libraries and Archives Commission, 2017.
- USA: £1 paid into library result ins £5.48 paid back – OCLC 2016.
- UK: £1 paid into library results in £1.60 paid back – Bolton Council, 2005.
- UK: Return on investment per visit of between 5.5 to 7.5 times – ALMA-UK, 2014. This also includes a suggested methodology, sample questionnaires and spreadsheets.
- UK: Each active user gains equivalent of a £1,359 pay rise in benefit from library membership on top of any economic return – DCMS 2014.
- UK: £1 gives £8.04 of value: Suffolk, October 2019.
- 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.
- What is the Economic Value of a Library? – SLIC – “The paper highlights library users place a theoretical monetary value of £24 – £27 per visit on their library service, which is 5.5 – 7.5 times greater than the cost of provision. “
- 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.
- It was estimated in 2012 that illiteracy costs the UK £81.3 billion per year. Source of information is here.
- 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 1:4This report provides a summary of a programme of work for an AHRC/ESRC Public Service
Documents
- What is the Economic Value of a Library? – Scottish Library and Information Council. Includes toolkit.
- Evidence review of the economic contribution of libraries – Arts Council England (June 2014).
- A holistic approach to valuing our culture: a report to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (May 2013) – Placement Fellowship ‘Measuring Cultural Value (Phase 2)’, based at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It focuses on the part of this research that engaged directly with representatives of the cultural sector, and with their views on the idea of measuring the value of culture.
- How do libraries impact economic development in their Communities – Iowa library services (USA) provides a list of useful links.
- Unlimited Value: leading practice in unlimited value creation – Libraries Unlimited, University of Exeter and others. “From 2016, a research partnership including Libraries Unlimited, the University of Exeter Business School, the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) and Open Data Institute (ODI) Devon has been worked together to understand how libraries can learn to develop a better understanding of their ‘social value’ – the difference that libraries make to the people and communities they serve. The project, named Unlimited Value, received £200,000 funding from Arts Council England’s research programme” (2019)
- Measuring the Value of Public Libraries: The fallacy of footfall and issues as measures of the value of Public Libraries – University of Sheffield. “This is a summary report of a workshop held in Leeds on 28th March 2011. The primary aim of the workshop was to provide a forum where experts, policy makers, stakeholders and practitioners could discuss the ways in which public libraries can better communicate their intrinsic value and worth, at a time of government financial restraint. The basic premise is that public library services need to identify effective means of communicating their value to society.”
“Despite their funding peril, public libraries remain one of the most popular government services and historically have fared pretty well at the ballot box. In 2009, voters passed 84 percent of library funding referendums nationwide and 54 percent of library construction measures, according to the Library Journal.”
- Toronto Public Library : Dec 2013 First-of-its-kind Canadian study illustrates library’s economic impact on Toronto
- National Literacy Trust : 2012 “Illiteracy estimated to cost UK economy approximately $127 billion a year (£81 billion)” source for the above is this WLF Study : World Literacy Foundation : 2012 The Economic and Social Cost of Illiteracy in a Global Context
- BOP Consulting – Report to ACE : 2012 Measuring the economic benefits of arts and culture
- ERS – Report to the UK Museums Libraries and Archives Council : 2011 Economic Impact Toolkits for Archives, Libraries and Museums
- DCMS : 2011 Creative Industries Economic Estimates
- David O’Brien – Report to DCMS : 2010 Measuring the value of culture
- USA | Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs : 2008 Public Libraries and Community Economic Development: Partnering for Success
- USA | Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction : 2008 Economic Impact of Public Libraries
- Price Waterhouse Coopers – Report to the NI Statistics & Research Agency : 2007 Social and Economic value of public libraries, museums, arts and sport in Northern Ireland
- USA | Carlos A. Manjarrez et al – Report to the Urban Libraries Council : 2007 Making Cities Stronger: public libraries contributions to local economic development
- USA | Indiana Uni Business Research Center – Report to Indiana State Library : 2007 The Economic Impact of Libraries in Indiana
- Jura Consultants | Report to Bolton’s Museum, Library and Archive Services : 2005 An Economic Valuation, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and MLA North West
- Long Island Assoc : 2005 Placing an Economic Value on the Services of Public Libraries in Suffolk County, New York
- Anne Morris et al | Loughborough University : 2002 Economic Value of Public Libraries in the UK although this Report is 12 years old – It is particularly informative
- USA | Growing local economies “In the past five years or so, several states and communities have undertaken studies of the return on investment (ROI) or economic impact of public libraries. The very fact that these studies exist attests to the growing awareness of those in the public library community”
- Taxpayer Return on Investment in Florida Public Libraries (2004)
- Value for Money: Southwestern Ohio’s Return from Investment in Public Libraries (2006)
- The Economic Impact of Public Libraries on South Carolina (2005)
- Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Economic Impact Study (2006)
- The Role of Public Libraries in Local Economic Development (Kansas, 2000)
- Output measures for public libraries – American Library Association (1987).
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Give Us a Dollar and We’ll Give You Back Four – Lulu. “Your public library is in competition with a lot of other agencies–city, county, district, even state–for money. You want your library to sustain its current services and expand them in the future. You know you get a lot of bang for your buck, but how do you show that to the people who hold the purse strings? One way is to use the data in Give Us a Dollar and We’ll Give You Back Four. Walt Crawford has compiled, analyzed, and organized library funding and service data from all around the United States. Give Us a Dollar will let you compare your services to those of other similar libraries at a glance and will help give you the data you need to show your funders how much you already stretch their dollars–and how much more you could provide with even a few dollars more.”
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