I was reading a report on the economic value libraries bring to the community and one section of justification which I thought was weird is the logic behind the hidden cost of travelling to and from the library both in time and cost. This is valued as a benefit to the community. The logic being that if people are prepared to incur the cost they must be getting a greater benefit and this that is part of the value of a public library.
Travel costs – this method estimates the value of time, cost and effort that library customers incur in getting to and in using public library services. in essence, this method assumes the value derived by customers must outweigh the costs incurred, otherwise customers wouldn't make the visit.
Personally I see this is convoluted logic. The problem that I see is people don't realise their time cost and the cost of using their vehicle or public transport to travel to and from the public library. If they did they may decided there is a better way to get the resource they want rather than use a public library.
For example our closest public library is about 3 km away which is a return trip of 6 km. Fuel usage alone (using Fuel Cost Calculator) is 93 cents. It I visit the Doncaster library this would be nearly $2. This is just the cost of petrol. If you use the ATO figure for car usage at around 70 cents a kilometre conceivably the real cost of using a car to travel too and from the library could be as much as $4-$5. Now if we add the time and put a value on the time free isn't looking quite so free. Would you go to the public library and pay $5 each time you borrowed a book. I think the answer would be no for most people.
The problem is the cost is hidden for most people. We've made the time and cost of travel so indirect we often don't see we're incurring the cost. There is almost no connection between borrowing a book and having the money taken from your bank account or even the time you spend at work earning the money.
For reports justifying this cost as a benefit to me greatly inflates the value public libraries bring to the community.
Personally I think we're all emotionally tied to the concept of local libraries because we've grown up with them. Every household in the community pays for the public library whether they use it or not through their rates and taxes. The reality is I've borrowed one book in well over a decade. The book was a government produced book and overseas the same material is made available online for free. I suspect I'm probably paying around $50 a year in taxes to have a library available when I want to use it, so I've probably contributed $500-$1,000 which makes this a very expensive book indeed.
Next time you're using a free service perhaps factor in your travel costs and your time. You'll be surprised at how much free services are actually costing you.
For those who are looking for alternatives keep in mind there are hundreds of thousands of free books available on the internet. Even paying 99 cents for an eBook is probably going to cost you less than borrowing a free book from a public library. I've seen a number of people swap books between them which I think is a great way for people to help each other and create community spirit. In the near future I hope to put my collection of books online to make it easier for family and friends to access and borrow books they don't even know I have.
Travel costs – this method estimates the value of time, cost and effort that library customers incur in getting to and in using public library services. in essence, this method assumes the value derived by customers must outweigh the costs incurred, otherwise customers wouldn't make the visit.
Personally I see this is convoluted logic. The problem that I see is people don't realise their time cost and the cost of using their vehicle or public transport to travel to and from the public library. If they did they may decided there is a better way to get the resource they want rather than use a public library.
For example our closest public library is about 3 km away which is a return trip of 6 km. Fuel usage alone (using Fuel Cost Calculator) is 93 cents. It I visit the Doncaster library this would be nearly $2. This is just the cost of petrol. If you use the ATO figure for car usage at around 70 cents a kilometre conceivably the real cost of using a car to travel too and from the library could be as much as $4-$5. Now if we add the time and put a value on the time free isn't looking quite so free. Would you go to the public library and pay $5 each time you borrowed a book. I think the answer would be no for most people.
The problem is the cost is hidden for most people. We've made the time and cost of travel so indirect we often don't see we're incurring the cost. There is almost no connection between borrowing a book and having the money taken from your bank account or even the time you spend at work earning the money.
For reports justifying this cost as a benefit to me greatly inflates the value public libraries bring to the community.
Personally I think we're all emotionally tied to the concept of local libraries because we've grown up with them. Every household in the community pays for the public library whether they use it or not through their rates and taxes. The reality is I've borrowed one book in well over a decade. The book was a government produced book and overseas the same material is made available online for free. I suspect I'm probably paying around $50 a year in taxes to have a library available when I want to use it, so I've probably contributed $500-$1,000 which makes this a very expensive book indeed.
Next time you're using a free service perhaps factor in your travel costs and your time. You'll be surprised at how much free services are actually costing you.
For those who are looking for alternatives keep in mind there are hundreds of thousands of free books available on the internet. Even paying 99 cents for an eBook is probably going to cost you less than borrowing a free book from a public library. I've seen a number of people swap books between them which I think is a great way for people to help each other and create community spirit. In the near future I hope to put my collection of books online to make it easier for family and friends to access and borrow books they don't even know I have.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
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