For every dollar the Sonoma County Library spends on library services, Sonoma County residents receive $3.82 in benefits, according to an independent economic-impact study.
Sonoma County Library Director Erika Thibault said the significant return-on-investment validates the library’s role in Sonoma County as both a source of education, information and entertainment, and its substantial positive financial impact to the community.
“This report confirms that the library provides both amazing resources and a huge economic boost to our Sonoma County residents,” Thibault said.
The report was created by Economic Forensics and Analytics (EFA), a Sonoma County-based independent research and consulting firm led by Dr. Robert Eyler, a professor at Sonoma State University.
The EFA study looked at three key areas of impact: The library’s annual operating budget, its annual capital spending and the annual household savings cardmembers receive from free library services.
Eyler began with the property- and sales-tax funds spent by the library system, then added a key factor—the value of the collection that the library holds on behalf of the community. “If the estimated market value of collections is added to economic impacts described … the annual benefit rises from $2.41 per tax dollar spent to $3.82 per tax dollar spent,” Eyler wrote.
Economic impacts are the “ripple” or multiplicative effects of the library’s operations and capital spending on other parts of the local economy. The library’s annual operations and spending touches industries as diverse as construction and health care.
According to Eyler, Sonoma County Library provides three main categories of economic benefits to Sonoma County and its households: daily operations, capital improvements and social benefits.
Social benefits provided by the library include providing spaces for lifelong learning, increasing community resilience, providing community gathering spaces and education, and being a key source for information access to county residents.
The report concludes with: “Working to support the Sonoma County Library and to ensure its long-term success will protect the significant benefits it provides to the county economy.”
The Economic Impact Study is online at sonomalibrary.org/economicimpact. Print copies in both English and Spanish are also available at library branches.
Sonoma County Library has more than 600,000 physical items at its 14 libraries, as well as three special collections and a mobile library van. Cardholders may also access an extensive selection of online books, movies, music and more. More than 1.4 million people visited a library branch during fiscal year 2023-24, and the library’s total circulation (physical and online) topped 4.4 million items in that period of time.
