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A new study by the Kelley School of Business finds that for each dollar of public library expenditures, the average Indiana community receives $2.38 in benefits.

In addition to studying local public libraries, the study examined the economic impact of Indiana’s collegiate and university libraries, like those at IU. The state’s academic libraries have a combined staff of more than 2,200 full-time equivalent employees. those libraries pump $136 million into the state economy in the form of wages and expenditures.

The economic ripple effects of academic-library spending support 640 additional jobs and create approximately $112 million in incremental economic activity in the state.

“In addition to providing services and collections to help students and faculty succeed” says Patricia A. Steele, Ruth Lilly Interim Dean of University Libraries, “we also serve citizens of the state, who have free and open access to our collections. I’m pleased to see, however, that besides this intellectual and cultural value, we also have an economic impact that well exceeds the investment being made in libraries by state taxpayers.”

The Indiana University Libraries comprise one of the leading academic research library systems in North America, providing strong collections, quality service and instructional programs, and leadership in the application of information technologies.

The study was done by the Indiana Business Research Center in IU’s Kelley School of Business for the Indiana State Library.

Read the IU news release.