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Library Advocacy

Library Advocacy

 

Tell us how your local library has impacted and made a difference in your life! You can:

  1. Use the form on this page, or

  2. email webmaster@countylibrary.org, or

  3. use #MCMLS and #mylibrarystory on social media.

 

Curious how much the services the library provides you would cost if you had to pay for them directly? To find out, just enter in the lefthand column the number of times you or your family use each service listed down the center. The estimated retail value of each service will be calculated on the right, and the total value of your library use is shown at the bottom of the worksheet – and let us know what you think about our library service!

 

Input Your Use       

Library Materials & Services

Value of Your Use

 

 

$

 

This worksheet was adapted from the Massachusetts Library Association.



How the Values are Calculated

The cost figures for library services were derived by the Massachusetts Library Association based on the table below, last updated in 2013:

Library Service

Value of Service       

Based On

 

Adult Books Borrowed

$17.00

Amazon.com average price

Young Adult Books Borrowed

$12.00

Amazon.com average price

Children Books Borrowed

$17.00

Amazon.com average price

Audiobooks Borrowed

$9.95

Audible.com download average

Interlibrary Loan Requests

$25.00

Amazon.com average price plus shipping

eBooks Downloaded

$15.00

Estimated B&N/Amazon average

Magazines Read

$5.00

Estimated purchase price average

Newspapers Read

$9.50

Boston Globe subscription (outside city)

Movies Borrowed

$4.00

Estimated Netflix average

CDs Borrowed

$9.95

iTunes download album average

Meeting Room Use (per hour)

$25.00

Estimated value

Adult Programs Attended

$15.00

Entertainment/program admission fee – estimated avg.

Young Adult Programs Attended        

$12.00

Entertainment/program admission fee – estimated avg.

Children’s Programs Attended

$7.00

Entertainment/program admission fee – estimated avg.

Museum Passes Borrowed

$20.00

Museum admission fee – estimated average for two adults

Computer Use (per hour)

$12.00

FedEx/Kinkos price

Database Searches

$19.95

Average cost for online article search

Reference Assistance

$7.00

Average library cost