According to the Halifax Public Library, “the average tax cost for public library services in HRM is $4.97 a month, per household.” Before you get all old-man cranky and demand your toonies back, fists in air, perhaps you should consider the value of what you receive in return.
The library’s new value calculator estimates the services you use monthly and calculates how much money you save by using the library’s free services (e.g. “the cost of one movie is calculated at $4.99 per month, based on average rental fees at local rental outlets.”)
OK, so let’s say that in one month, I take out one book and one DVD, read two magazines and a newspaper (in-house) and ask three reference questions (I’m a curious type), that value adds up to $80.49.
Consider this your financial post of the day.
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2009.