Toronto’s Public Library (TPL) system is one of the busiest in the world. And there's lots of
evidence to suggests that the library—and its attendant services—is also an integral resource for, among others, students, job-seekers and new Toronto residents.
But while we know we like our libraries, and we know why we use our libraries, we haven’t had, until very recently, any quantifiable numbers on their overall economic impact.
Thanks to a new report from the
Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI)—a research centre out of the Rotman School of Management at UofT—we now have a concrete picture of what libraries mean in terms of dollars and cents.
The "first-of-its-kind" study was released this past Monday during a Toronto Public Library Board meeting at the Toronto Reference Library.
While library supporters have rarely relied on this "return on investment" language to combat proposed budget cuts, preferring instead to focus on more intangible quality-of-life benefits, the report’s findings—which puts the library’s value in stark economic terms—will certainly provide more weaponry for their "stop the cuts" arsenal.
"For the first time, we can demonstrate the library's economic impact on our city, in addition to the powerful impact on individuals and communities that isn't as easily quantifiable," says Paul Ainslie, chair of the Toronto Public Library Board. "We think Toronto residents will be very interested to hear that for every dollar invested in the library they receive almost six times the value. A dollar invested in the library has a significant return for the city."
Full report available
here.
Writer: Katia Snukal
Source: MPI and the Toronto Public Library