Open Access Article SciPap-894
Public Libraries´ Services and Their Economic Evaluation
by Veronika Linhartová 1,* iD icon and Jan Stejskal 2

1 Department of Economic Sciences, University of Pardubice, Studenská 95, Pardubice 532 10 , Czechia

2 Institute of Economic Sciences, University of Pardubice, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Studentska 95, Pardubice CZ53210, Czechia

* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract: The goal of public library is to meet the cultural, educational, and social demands and requests of local society by providing information services to their residents. Economic valuation of public libraries is being carried out more frequently in recent times. Since the mid-nineties researchers attempted to quantify the value of library services and asked users of these services for their opinions regarding the performance of public libraries. The economic value of public libraries for local residents in Czech Republic was measured in this paper. Data for the analysis were collected from 37 public libraries in the Czech Republic. The public libraries’ benefit/cost ratio was calculated and it is 5,86 – 6,17 %. That means, for every USD 1.00 spent on analyzing Czech public libraries, provides on average USD 6.00 benefit value to taxpayers. The resulting value (USD 6.00) is quite comparable to results from similar studies conducted in other developed countries. It was also found that the library size does not affect the final value of the public libraries services, thus the efficiency of spent public funds is comparable in both large and small libraries.

Keywords: Public Services, Contingent Valuation, Public Library, Return On Investment, Cost Benefit Analysis

JEL classification:   E62 - Fiscal Policy,   H41 - Public Goods

SciPap 2017, 25(3), 894

Received: 1 September 2016 / Accepted: 23 October 2017 / Published: 5 December 2017