Our prototype library funding and return on investment map is built from data provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It includes data from every library that participated in the 2022 data collection. In this interactive map, you can find your library and view your library's preliminary return-on-investment (ROI) indicator. This ROI indicator is based on early data and is displayed only for informative purposes. While the project is ongoing, new data points will be incorporated to include local funding issues and more accurately represent the return on investment for our nation's libraries. In most cases, once that data is incorporated, these ROI measures will drastically increase.
Libraries increasingly need to demonstrate value, especially via quantifiable measures that link libraries to social and economic prosperity. Although various approaches can provide such measures, one effective method is ROI. ROI measures the value received (usually in dollars) due to an amount invested in a particular asset. Most calculations rely on traditional methods, such as cost-benefit analysis, to demonstrate how investments to public libraries, such as taxpayer money, benefit individual citizens and local communities. Data for these studies may be taken from local economic data, such as tax dollars collected, which are then compared with general estimates representing the dollar value of library collections, circulation and reference services, events, and programming. Other studies have used statewide survey data regarding public library use or interviews with stakeholders regarding library services: for example, a study of Colorado libraries compared time and money costs to use public libraries for a particular service vs. alternative service providers' time and money costs.
We are working to bring U.S. public libraries a thorough, nationwide systematic study of ROI to demonstrate relevance in the contemporary information environment, advocate for support, secure ongoing funding, and allow libraries to make informed strategic decisions. Further research questions we are pursuing include:
- What is the return on investment (ROI) for U.S. public libraries at the local, state, and national levels?
- What measurable outputs are necessary for such calculations? What models are most appropriate?
- What similarities and disparities in ROI exist across public libraries in the US?
- What factors might contribute to these disparities?
Although these studies provide useful insights, they are limited to local contexts and applications, like individual states, library systems, or specific programs. Some have created tools that can (and have) been used by other libraries in other settings, such as the Library Value Calculator from the Massachusetts Library Association, now offered for use by libraries nationwide. But these tools paint a broad picture at best and an inaccurate one at worst due to variations in the costs of services from one community to the next. Additionally, the focus on library services may vary - some calculate ROI exclusively based on the value of physical and digital collections. In contrast, others attempt to include less tangible library services such as reference transactions and programming. Almost all ROI studies focus on economic factors, such as dollar value, and those that try to investigate ROI more broadly, such as through relationships between library use and educational activities, often rely on interviews or testimonials, making systematic comparisons challenging.