Libraries are great places for savers

By SAMANTHA MAZ IARZ CHRISTMANN

BUFFALO NEWS

In the past, it was always thrilling to think that, if my closest branch didn’t have a copy of a book I was looking for, they would arrange for it to be delivered there for me. What service!

So how much more incredible is it now that my library magically beams free books directly to my e-reader? It’s like an episode of “Star Trek.”

It’s easier to appreciate just how awesome the entire concept of libraries is if you imagine it applied to items other than books.

But what if there were a library of kitchen gadgets where I could just bring my library card and check out whatever I needed?

Not only would I be able to borrow it, but there would be someone there –a kitchen librarian –to show me where to find it and how to use it. Best of all, it wouldn’t cost me a cent.

The only time money would come into the equation would be if I failed to return my mixer on time. Even then, the penalties would be a pittance. How cool would that be?

You hear a lot about how much money libraries cost because politicians are always trying to cut them out of their budgets. But have you ever stopped to think about how much money libraries save the people who need them?

A recent report released by the Buffalo&Erie County Public Library shows that every $1 of funding received by our public library system returns a minimum of $6.70 in services.

That’s better than money in the bank –literally –considering the average interest rate on a standard local savings account runs between 0.01 percent and 0.10 percent.

In total, Erie County’s library system estimates it saved borrowers more than $76 million in 2011, including more than $10 million in computer usage and more than$727,000 in children and adult programming.

And that just accounts for one county in Western New York. Libraries in Niagara County and elsewhere are similarly spinning straw into gold.

source: The Buffalo News