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Get Rich @ your library

Your public library is a goldmine of books, magazines, movies, music and other great stuff.  There are many ways YOU can get rich @ your library!

FUN FACTS

• Save money by borrowing instead of buying! You can reserve materials online, or even download books from many library websites, while sitting at home in your pajamas.
• Start investing with help from 332.024, which is the Dewey Decimal “address” for materials related to personal finance.  Or read your favorite business newspaper or magazine in print or online.
• More and more people are headed to the library for help finding a new job or career. While some public libraries have dedicated Job and Career Information Centers, most libraries offers free access to the Internet, computer classes, helpful librarians and specialized online resources.  Learn more about which careers are growing and paying well, take a practice exam to prepare for law school or law enforcement, or take a class in office software.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• 99% of libraries provide free access to computers and the Internet, and 66% provide free Wi-fi.
• Almost three-quarters of public libraries offer computer/Internet training to library patrons.
• Multiple studies show that for every $1 invested, libraries give back an economic value of about $5.
• Librarians purchase on the average of $14 billion in goods and services yearly for patrons to use.

DID YOU KNOW?

President Barack Obama says he got his first job through the New York Public Library! In 2005, he said:  "People always mention libraries in terms of just being sources for reading material or research. But I probably would not [have come to] Chicago were it not for the Manhattan public library… I was looking for an organizing job and was having great trouble finding a job as a community organizer in New York.

“The Mid-Manhattan Library had these books of lists of organizations, and the librarian helped me find these lists of organizations, and I wrote to every organization. One of them wound up being an organization in Chicago that I got a job with."

WHAT'S YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY WORTH TO YOU?

The services libraries offer certainly add up. Use the Library Value Calculator to see how many free services you’ve used and find out how much you’re saving!