Media Releases

Martin Prosperity Institute to develop study that examines Toronto Public Library’s economic impact on the city

June 19, 2013

TORONTO, ON – Toron­to Pub­lic Library has com­mis­sioned the Mar­tin Pros­per­i­ty Insti­tute at the Rot­man School of Man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to, to devel­op a study that will deter­mine the eco­nom­ic impact of Toron­to Pub­lic Library on the City of Toron­to. The study is being fund­ed by the Toron­to Pub­lic Library Foun­da­tion thanks to a gen­er­ous dona­tion from TD Bank Group and a con­tri­bu­tion from the Estate of Nor­man G. Hin­ton.

“We are thrilled to be work­ing with Toron­to Pub­lic Library to devel­op this impor­tant study, a first in Cana­da, which will demon­strate the eco­nom­ic impor­tance of the Toron­to Pub­lic Library sys­tem to our city,” said Kevin Sto­lar­ick, MPI Research Direc­tor. Through the use of empir­i­cal and qual­i­ta­tive evi­dence, the mea­sure­ments and mod­els we devel­op will be key in mea­sur­ing impact over the long term, and will also be a use­ful tool for pub­lic library sys­tems across Cana­da”.

The Toron­to Pub­lic Library Board request­ed this study that will mea­sure in con­crete terms the return on invest­ment for pub­lic library ser­vice and the val­ue pro­vid­ed to Toron­to res­i­dents.

“We hear time and time again that libraries pro­found­ly impact indi­vid­ual lives, neigh­bour­hoods and the whole com­mu­ni­ty. We’re now inter­est­ed in exam­in­ing the eco­nom­ic impact of Toron­to Pub­lic Library on our city. The study will include a cost-ben­e­fit analy­sis of offer­ing open hours in neigh­bour­hoods through­out Toron­to,” said Paul Ainslie, Chair of the Toron­to Pub­lic Library Board. “It is par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant to demon­strate val­ue to res­i­dents in this time of fis­cal restraint. We’re pleased that the Library is work­ing with Mar­tin Pros­per­i­ty Insti­tute on this sig­nif­i­cant study.”

The study will be con­duct­ed over the sum­mer and be pre­sent­ed to the Toron­to Pub­lic Library Board in the fall. It is one of the key activ­i­ties list­ed in the Library’s Strate­gic Plan- 2012–2015.

The Lloyd & Del­phine Mar­tin Pros­per­i­ty Insti­tute is the world’s lead­ing think-tank on the role of sub-nation­al fac­tors — loca­tion, place and city-regions — in glob­al eco­nom­ic pros­per­i­ty. It takes an inte­grat­ed view of pros­per­i­ty, look­ing beyond eco­nom­ic mea­sures to include the impor­tance of qual­i­ty of place and the devel­op­ment of peo­ple’s cre­ative poten­tial.

Toron­to Pub­lic Library is one of the world’s busiest urban pub­lic library sys­tems. Every year, 19 mil­lion peo­ple vis­it our branch­es in neigh­bour­hoods across the city and bor­row 32 mil­lion items. To learn more about Toron­to Pub­lic Library, vis­it our web­site at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answer­line at 416–393-7131. To get the most cur­rent updates on what’s hap­pen­ing at the library, fol­low us on Twit­ter @torontolibrary.

The Rot­man School of Man­age­ment at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to is redesign­ing busi­ness edu­ca­tion for the 21st cen­tu­ry with a cur­ricu­lum based on Inte­gra­tive Think­ing. Locat­ed in the world’s most diverse city, the Rot­man School fos­ters a new way to think that enables the design of cre­ative busi­ness solu­tions. The School is cur­rent­ly rais­ing $200 mil­lion to ensure Cana­da has the world-class busi­ness school it deserves. For more infor­ma­tion, vis­it www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

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For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact:

Ken McGuf­fin
Man­ag­er, Media Rela­tions
Rot­man School of Man­age­ment
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to
Voice 416.946.3818
E‑mail mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca
Fol­low Rot­man on Twit­ter @rotmanschool
Watch Rot­man on You Tube www.youtube.com/rotmanschool