Forbes Library provided $7,062,976 in services last fiscal year: A $42 investment per capita with a $278 return.
| Library Service | Count (in FY2015) |
Unit cost (without library) | Source of unit cost | Total Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Books Borrowed | 110,802 | $17.00 | Amazon.com average price | $1,883,634 |
| Young Adult Books Borrowed | 10,143 | $12.00 | Amazon.com average price | $121,716 |
| Children’s Books Borrowed | 67,428 | $17.00 | Amazon.com average price | $1,146,276 |
| Audiobooks Borrowed | 42,749 | $9.95 | Audible.com average price | $425,353 |
| Interlibrary Loan Requests | 35,345 | $25.00 | Amazon.com average price plus shipping | $883,625 |
| eBooks Downloaded | 8,665 | $15.00 | Average Barnes & Noble/Amazon average | $129,975 |
| Magazines Read | 11,310 | $5.00 | Estimated purchase price average | $56,550 |
| Newspapers Read | 3,900 | $2.00 | News stand average | $7,800 |
| Movies Borrowed | 99,347 | $4.00 | Estimated Netflix average | $397,388 |
| Meeting Room Use | 3,044 | $25.00 | Estimated value | $76,100 |
| Adult Program Attended | 9,294 | $15.00 | Entertainment/program admission fee (estimated average per adult) |
$139,410 |
| Young Adult Program Attended | 199 | $12.00 | Entertainment/program admission fee (estimated average per youth) |
$2,388 |
| Children’s Program Attended | 11,281 | $7.00 | Entertainment/program admission fee (estimated average per child) |
$78,967 |
| Museum Pass Borrowed | 1,607 | $20.00 | Museum admission fee (estimated average for two adults) |
$32,140 |
| Computer Use (perhour) | 33,852 | $12.00 | FedEx/Kinkos price | $406,224 |
| Database Searches | 42,165 | $19.95 | Average cost for online article search | $841,192 |
| Reference Assistance | 62,034 | $7.00 | Average library cost | $434,238 |
The cost figures for library services were derived by the Massachusetts Library Association based on data from the Swiss Army Librarian.