HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Presentation - National Library WeekMEMORANDUM
DATE: April 14, 2020
TO: Honorable Mayor And Members of the City Council JIM
FROM: Tim Hetherton, Library Services Director
SUBJECT National Library Week: Newport Beach Public Library's Return on Investment
"1 have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card."
- Laura Bush
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is observed in libraries across the United
States each April. It is a time for communities across our nation to celebrate the
contributions of our libraries and to promote library use and support. By offering free access
to information and materials for all ages and interests, public libraries are essential
institutions that deliver the resources their communities need to thrive, offering opportunity
to all.
The Newport Beach Public Library system attracts over a million physical visitors and 1.5
million virtual visitors each year. The Library enjoys significant private support through the
Friends of the Library and the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation. Newport -Mesa
ProLiteracy, which provides free literacy services to adults who live or work in the Newport
Beach area, has also engendered an increasing amount of private support in recent years.
The Library also benefits from a wealth of volunteers: teen volunteers for the Summer
Reading Program and Young Adult Advisory Council, Homebound Services volunteers, the
Friends who manage and staff the Bookstore and their Stupendous Big Book Sales, held
three times a year.
Despite the closure of our facilities to the public due to the COVID-19 crisis, Newport Beach
Public Library continues to provide a wide array of digital offerings, including e -books,
audiobooks, magazines, virtual programs (including story times), resources for online
school, and streaming movies through our e -Branch. The Library has also created an
information clearinghouse for local information on the COVID-19 pandemic for the City of
Newport Beach and Newport Beach Public Library patrons.
While the Library is widely recognized as a community jewel, with a strong base of private
support groups and volunteers, it is possible to demonstrate NBPL's economic value to the
City through Return on Investment, or "ROI".
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Measuring ROI can be a valuable tool for determining how valuable the library is to the
community and stakeholders. For libraries supported with public tax dollars, one way to use
ROI is to measure tax dollars (the investment) against the benefits (savings by not having
to pay elsewhere for the use of library materials and services).
The American Library Association provides a useful Return on investment calculator, first
developed by the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA). The MLA, in 2009, established
baseline costs for various resources and services. The value of service is then multiplied by
the library's usage statistic for that resource. For 2020 purposes, the Library's $8.1 million -
dollar budget has a return on investment of $24,627,060.
While the study does not include all the important and valuable services and resources we
offer, such as special collections, and quiet study space, it does quantify our value.
However, it is impossible to place a monetary value on our most important offering:
community.
On behalf of Chair Janet Ray, Vice Chair Paul Watkins, Secretary Doug Coulter, and
Trustees Kurt Kost and Barbara Glabman, the Newport Beach Public Library expresses its
sincere gratitude to City Council and the citizens of Newport Beach for their continued
support.
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