The Huron County library has found that the institution has a significant impact on local communities, by bringing people, information and ideas together.
County of Huron Librarian and Director of Cultural Services Beth Rumble said public libraries are critical cultural and social infrastructure for the communities they serve.
Rumble explained they used the Valuing Ontario Libraries Toolkit to find that every $1 invested in the Huron County Library generates $4.66 in Social Return on Investment (SROI). In all, the library contributes over $17.5 million in economic benefit in Huron County.
"So now that we have the information, which is wonderful to be able to say, you know, your Huron County Library provides an economic benefit of over $17.5 million," she shared. "We can use that as a tool to communicate we are very well supported in the community. So this is another way that we can just continue to ensure that we have that support in our community, that people are understanding the benefit of libraries."
She pointed out the took kit found that Huron County is really benefiting from having library services, including direct spending, direct benefits, and indirect benefits.
"So this toolkit looks at seven different dimensions, so a variety of things, including entertainment and leisure, which I think may come to mind more quickly for people when they're thinking about the library," she explained. " It looks at the value of the space that libraries provide, economic development impacts, the impact we have on inclusion and well-being in our communities, as well as education, culture and civic engagement."
Substantial impacts were shown in entertainment and leisure, valued at more than $10 million, and economic development, valued at over $3 million.
"It's not just a place to come and get print books or to use computers," she revealed. "Absolutely, we do still see people using those services, we also see people using it as a safe place, as a place to connect with others in their community, as a place to learn new skills, to upskill, to further their education. And the number of programs that we offer that touch on a variety of topic areas and bring people together."
Rumble urged residents to go to their website to check out the wide variety of programs they offer.
"I would highly encourage people to go to our website and check out the events page to see the sheer number and variety of programs that we offer. But just to quickly, kind of talk about the diversity of things that are offered, Welcoming Week is coming up, and we have several meet your neighbor nights coming up at our libraries, and those are very much just times to come in meet other people in the neighborhood, whether you've just moved there from another country or from another community, you are welcome to come and meet folks at your library," she expanded. "We've had friends speed dating events, again to get people to know each other, or even puzzle competitions, where you can bring a team or come on yourself by yourself and so you can complete a puzzle in the quickest amount of time. If you need help learning some basic technology skills, then we have staff that can support you in navigating email and photos and things like that. There's arts programming that you can come and do guided painting or more casual craft programming as well."
Rumble said they have also started to focus more on youth, and offer various programs over the summer, including nerf in the library, and virtual reality events.