Economic Contributions of Public Libraries’ Children’s Services: An Empirical Analysis

Children’s services at public libraries offer a multitude of benefits to parents/carers and children. A major portion of these benefits are intangible, such as early literacy and cognitive development. Many studies have examined some of these intangible benefits; however, the research on the economic contributions of children’s services is almost non-existent. Public libraries are increasingly advocating for the value they contribute to communities and gaining some knowledge of the economic impact that children’s services generate can be pivotal in supporting advocacy work in this area. The current study examined two of the Australian Capital Territory Libraries’ children’s services: Giggle & Wiggle and Story Time, for their economic impact. We used a wide range of measures to estimate the economic contributions these services make. We found that these services (1) were valued by parents/carers almost seven times more than the cost incurred on their delivery, (2) economically benefited parents/carers in the form of savings on books, toys and electricity costs amounting to $177,580 per annum and (3) generated economic activity equal to almost $1.6 million. This study will inform the advocacy work of public libraries and the research efforts, aiming to determine the economic contributions of public libraries’ children’s services.