Annual Average Savings $700 Savings
The average O'Fallon Public Library card holder saved approximately $700 last year just by using their library card. We know that a library's value to its community cannot simply be measured in dollars and cents, but we thought it would be fun to try.
Return on Investment 5:1 ROI
The average library returns over $5 in services, programs, savings, and revenue to the community for every $1 invested in them.
Annual Items 2.1 Billion Checkouts
People in the U.S. borrow over 2.1 billion items annually. That's an average of 16 items a year for every person!. At the O'Fallon Public Library, we checked out 343,873 during our last fiscal year.
Annual Visits 1.3 Billion Visits
People in the U.S. visit their libraries more than 1.3 billion times annually. More people use libraries than go to MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, NASCAR, or the movies COMBINED. Here in O'Fallon, we had 173,990 visits during our last fiscal year.

More Stats to Consider

  • Illiteracy costs Americans more than 225 billion dollars a year in lost revenue and taxes
  • Over 90% of Americans believe that closing their local library would hurt their communities
  • There are more libraries in the United States than Starbucks or McDonalds
  • Low literacy adds $230 billion to the annual cost of delivering healthcare in the United States
  • More than 172 million Americans (more than half the population) have library cards
  • Millennials use libraries more than any other generation
  • Students in high-poverty schools are almost twice as likely to graduate when the school library is staffed with a certified school librarian
  • Research shows the highest achieving students attend schools with well-staffed and well-funded school libraries

And lastly...

  • 98% of library funding is dependent on the will of local voters and politicians

 

Thank you for your support!

 

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References

Americans' Attitudes Toward Public Libraries

But Nobody Uses Libraries Anymore!!

Quotable Facts About America's Libraries

Social, Economic Impact of Illiteracy

Why Literacy Matters

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Famous Library Quotes

The library card is a passport to wonders and miracles, glimpses into other lives, religions, experiences, the hopes and dreams and strivings of ALL human beings, and it is this passport that opens our eyes and hearts to the world beyond our front doors, that is one of our best hopes against tyranny, xenophobia, hopelessness, despair, anarchy, and ignorance.

Libba Bray

 

Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.

R. David Lankes

 

The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.

Albert Einstein

 

I have found the most valuable thing in my wallet is my library card.

Laura Bush

 

Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one.

Neil Gaiman

 

Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.

Lady Bird Johnson

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