Thursday October 1, 2009 - More Savings: Using the Library
I heard from a listener, Merrily Sparling, who is the head librarian of the Bancroft Memorial Library in Hopedale, about using your local library to save big bucks.
She sent me the copy of a spreadsheet she had done for her local town meeting to show the annual savings for a family if they use the library.
Merrily, our Hopedale librarian, came up with a number close to $10,000 a year for a very busy family of four.
She estimated the adults read 3 books a month each and the children read 16 per month. Which may be high for the adults for there is so much competition for their free time with kids in the household.
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to read a book a week and with my traveling I am right on course. That is $5052 a year to purchase that many books.
Then there are the DVDs and videos. She figured on average 3 a week. If you had to rent them you would pay $4 a rental. That’s a savings of $576 annually. And if you bought them the savings would be about $2400 a year. If you used Netflix it would be less.
Museum Passes: Did you know that your library has passes for most of the museums in our area? If you went twice a month with your kids that’s a savings of $1200 a year.
Library Programs: She figured the patrons would hang out at the library. The weekly story hour for preschoolers would be worth $40 a month. Weekly reading session for elementary school kids would also be worth $40 a month. And the adults; the book discussions and various other free lectures had a value of $17 a month. That would be worth $1,164 annually.
Not all patrons use the audio books. I do though and find there is a better selection at the library than the video stores. Also the periodicals, especially the expensive ones. And the computers. Many patrons have an e-mail account and go to the library to check their e-mail and to do the research I am always suggesting.
So can you save $10,000 annually? Quite possibly. If you add it all up it comes to $9816 without the periodicals and audio books. I figured my annual usage to be worth $5000. Use your local library it’s a great resource!
Currently I have 4 books, 2 audio books and 1 DVD checked out. For my granddaughter I have 5 books and 2 DVDs.
One more thing:
This is the report that was provided to the library patrons and residents attending the Hopedale annual town meeting. The usage is based on minimum usage as many patrons (especially children) take out far more books than I estimated. Also adults tend to take out more books and DVDs.
One of the figures I didn't include was the cost of audio books, sometimes upwards of $50, for commuters and periodical subscriptions that are easily $30 - $40 apiece.
Return on Investment of Library Services and Materials -
For a Family of Four each Month: Rental Cost vs. Purchase
Books - 3 week loan period:
2 per week for each child = 4 per week or 16 per month
No place to rent: $16.99 X 32 = $271.84
3 per month for each adult = 6 per month
No place to rent: $24.95 X 6 = $149.70
Videos or DVDs - loan period is one week:
2 videos per week for children = 8 per month
Rent: $3.99 X 8 = $32 $14.99 X 8 = $120
1 DVD per week for adults = 4 per month
Rent: $3.99 X 4 = $16 $18.99 X 4 = $ 80
Museum Passes - 2 visits per month for the family of 4:
Admission: 4 admissions per month for parents, $15 X 4 for Adult = $60
4 admissions per month for kids, $10 X 4 for kids= $40
Programs at the Library - Weekly story hours or book discussions for kids:
4 for preschool, $10 = $40
4 for elementary school student, $10 = $40
(versus tutoring costs in reading = $25 each session weekly) Adult programs - 2 adult admissions each month, $ 8.50 = $17.00
(compare with the cost of going to the movies or knitting lessons)
Financial benefits for a family of four by using the library on a MONTHLY basis equals an astounding -
$ 818.54 each month or
$ 204.64 per family member or
$ 51.15 a week
Can you find a better bargain anywhere else in town? There are approximately 2500 households in Hopedale who could take advantage of the FREE materials and programs offered at the local library. The return on investment to the town is approximately $9822.48 for each family each year. (An unbelievable $24,556,200.00 return if every family in town utilized the library services at the minimum usage listed above – many use it far more?)
** Costs of attendance in museums, book groups or programs are estimated since the cost varies from institution to institution.
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