What is your library worth to you?
How much would you pay out-of-pocket for your library services?
The calculator worksheet has been adapted from the downloadable spreadsheet, originally provided by the Massachusetts Library Association and then adapted for the web by Chelmsford Public Library. Maine State Library added extra accessibility coding and reformatting for ease of reading online. This spreadsheet requires either Microsoft Excel or the Excel Viewer.
For more information
How These Figures were Calculated
| Library Services | Value of |
|---|---|
Library staff answer information questions efficiently that require advanced knowledge of information sources, community resources and recreational reading. This figure is an estimate of the cost of the patron's time to find out the required information on his/her own. | 7.00 |
Books purchased by LPL range in price from $9 average per paperback to $38 average for a hardcover nonfiction book (prices from LSC). This figure is an average of the span of book costs. | 23.00 |
| Average retail price of a magazine. | 5.00 |
| Rental price of a new release DVD at Rogers video. | 6.00 |
Average download price of a recently published book from iTunes | 22.00 |
Average price of a music CD from iTunes | 9.99 |
This cost is an estimate that incorporates the cost to the patron in gas and travel time to visit a library location across the city to pick up an item instead of being able to place a hold and have it sent to a conveniently close location. | 5.00 |
Based on the commercial Internet cafe charge of $4/hour for Internet use. | 6.00 |
This fee is based on the average cost per class of a program offered by a for-profit organization. | 7.00 |
This figure is the operating revenue allocated to London Public Library by the City of London in 2008 ($16, 342, 015) divided by the population of London 352,395 ( 2006 census data, reported in the LEDC 2009 Market Facts). That makes the investment $46.37 per Londoner annually. Your monthly contribution is $3.86 ($46.37/12 months). | 3.86 |
| ROI Return on Investment (ROI) is calculated by subtracting your monthly contribution ($3.86) from the total value of the library services you used this month as determined by the calculator. That figure is then divided by your monthly contribution to determine the percentage of your return on investment. |
How to Customize and Use
This online calculator was adapted from the downloadable spreadsheet [xlsx] created by the Massachusetts Library Association Legislative Committee and posted by a member, Greg Pronevitz of Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System.
Permission is granted to other libraries to adapt this calculator for use on their own website. A standardized and accessibility-enabled version is available from the Maine State Library, along with customization and installation instructions.