This report was conducted by the Long Island Association in June 2005. Funding was provided by the Suffolk Cooperative Library System.
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Libraries confer both direct and indirect benefits to the communities in which they are located. For example, the use of libraries helps to create a literate population, which is an indirect benefit. While it is difficult to measure indirect benefits, direct benefits to library users are measurable.
This study determines the value of the direct services provided by the public libraries in Suffolk County, New York as compared with the tax dollars used to support them. It also measures the secondary economic impact of library expenditures on the community.