Wisconsin public libraries have a strong ROI and provide additional valuable services
The economic return to taxpayers is $4.06 per dollar of taxpayer support. The ROI is calculated by dividing the economic contribution of public libraries per capita ($134.16) by the public tax support per capita ($33.07). This return per dollar of taxpayer funds comes back to taxpayers in the form of the value of public library services and the direct economic contribution of public libraries to the state economy. In addition to the measurable services and expenditures that add value to the state economy, there are numerous other services that are valuable but at this time can’t be calculated from available data. The contributions of public libraries to overall literacy, to helping people with special needs, to supporting the efforts of K-12 schools, to providing community gathering space, and to supplying data needs of big and small businesses are additional and valuable contributions to the state economy (p. 33).