Krista Robinson, CEO of Stratford Public Library, highlighted findings from the Valuing Ontario Libraries Toolkit (VOLT), developed in collaboration with researchers from the Nordik Institute and Ontario Library Services.
At their Monday meeting, Stratford City Council learned the toolkit measures the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of public library services across various domains, including education, culture, inclusion and wellbeing, entertainment and leisure, economic development, civic engagement, and space utilization.
Robinson told My Stratford Now that the toolkit’s calculations demonstrated an impressive SROI of $6.48 for every municipal dollar invested in 2023.
This translates to a total economic benefit of $17,5M for the community.
This compares to $508 in economic benefit per person in the population, significantly exceeding the library’s operational cost per capita of $82 for the same year, she said.
Robinson added that the substantial impacts on entertainment and leisure, valued at more than $10 million, as well as contributions to local economic development totaling just under $2.9 million.
Educational development inclusion and well-being were also noted, with values of $2.2 million and $422,000, respectively.
Robinson said the findings underscore the critical importance of continued investment in public libraries, which provide invaluable social and economic benefits to communities.
She expressed optimism about future initiatives to further enhance the library’s impact across the region.
