It’s been awhile since the last ROI argument about public libraries which showed a 7:1 return on every dollar invested in a state’s public library system so it’s timely that a new study is just out looking at the recent situation in Texas. Here’s the official release — am no economist but it’s good to see the authors realistically talking about the difficulties of quantifying returns here while showing that what we can measure indicates real positive impact.
“The Texas State Library The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) has released a study showing that in 2011 the economic benefit from Texas public libraries totaled an astounding $2.407 billion, while collectively the libraries cost less than $0.545 billion. The return on investment was thus $4.42 for each dollar invested. The study was prepared for TSLAC by the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Texas at Austin and is available at www.tsl.state.tx.us/roi for immediate review and dissemination.”