The Value & Importance of Libraries
Library advocates know that strong Wisconsin libraries keep us all in a better state. They also know that libraries are essential, life changing institutions.
- Libraries are essential institutions in a democratic society because
they play a non-partisan role in providing the information that allows citizens
to make informed decisions.
- Libraries are essential to the educational process because they support
curricula, teach information literacy, and foster critical thinking skills.
- Libraries are essential partners in creating educated communities because
they provide opportunities for self-education, life-long learning, and self-improvement.
- Libraries are essential places of opportunity because they level the playing field making the world of information available to anyone seeking it.
Unfortunately, not everyone understands or appreciates the value and importance of libraries. A goal of the Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries is to disseminate messages about the value and importance of libraries.
Do you know that:
- Libraries save lives. In
a 1991 study physicians said that information provided by the library
contributed to their ability to avoid patient mortality. The physicians
also rated the information provided by the library more highly than that
provided by other information sources such as diagnostic imaging, lab tests,
and discussions with colleagues.
- U.S. libraries circulate about the same number of items as FedEx ships
each day, i.e., about 5.3 million items.
- Numerous
studies [pdf] have confirmed that school libraries staffed by qualified
library media specialists do make a measurable difference on student achievement.
- There is now research
to support [pdf] what librarians have always said, i.e., libraries are
busier during hard economic times.
- Five times more people visit U.S. public libraries each year than attend
U.S. professional and college football, basketball, baseball and hockey
games combined. (1.1 billion vs. 204 million)
- In a 2003 Wisconsin
study, one-third of non-users of libraries said that libraries deserve
more state financial support.
- Developers of the Glendale Mall approached the Indianapolis Marion County
Public Library officials with a lease proposal offering over 33,000 square
feet of space for a branch library that would serve as an anchor store in
the mall. The library has been very successful, helping to revitalize the
mall.
- The City of Chicago uses public libraries as the anchors for neighborhood
redevelopment. In their book, Better Together, Robert Putnam and
Lewis Feldstein tell how the Daley administration has used libraries as
catalysts for changing neighborhoods. In fact Mayor Daley refers to the
neighborhood library as the “heartbeat of the community.”
- In 2005 Money Magazine ran an article titled: Disaster strikes. Now what? After the worst, eight ways to get back on your feet financially. “Get to the library” was number 7 on the list. According to Money, libraries have forms people need, information people need, and free Internet access for sending messages. “Best of all, you have a bevy of free experts who can help you research whatever your issues are.”
Additional Resources
There’s lots of information available about the value and importance of libraries. Here are a few good places to start.
Libraries: How They Stack Up [pdf], released by OCLC in 2003, provides a snapshot of the economic impact of libraries worldwide.
Articles and Studies Related to Library Value compiled by the American Library Association.
Statistics About Libraries from the American Library Association Office of Research and Statistics
The Value of Libraries. This article appeared in the Winter 2003 edition of TrusteeTales, a publication for library trustees from Winnefox Library System and Outagamie Waupaca Library System.