Seattle Central Public Library: Economic Benefits Assessment, July 2005

The following is reposted from the Reston 2020 blog:

The Seattle Public Library Central Library: Economic Benefits Assessment, July 2005

This comprehensive study of the economic impact of the newly constructed Central Library in Seattle highlights the diverse and substantial economic and other benefits of the new library just a year after it was completed.  As a "central library," it most closely resembles the role that "regional libraries" should play in Fairfax County, including the one to be built in Reston's Town Center North.

Unlike the analyses of the economic impact of public libraries by other cities either hoping to preserve their role in the community or to show the benefits of prospective new libraries, this analysis reports the actual results of one year's operation of a major new public library.  We expect that these impacts have only grown over the last decade.  Please see the full text for "key findings" of the report at this link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/266558298/Seattle-Central-Public-Library-Economic-Impacts