POCATELLO – The amount of money Pocatello residents are saving by checking out books instead of buying them tallies into the millions of dollars, according to a press release from the Marshall Public Library.
Savings from borrowing over buying has been listed on Marshall Public Library receipts since May of 2019. When librarians pulled data recently, they found patrons have checked out 251,420 items since then. This resulted in a savings of $4,066,425.99. That’s $220 for every active library card holder.
“We were pleasantly surprised when we looked at how much money the library has been able to save our patrons,” said Trina Bonman, Associate Director. “We know that we’re busy checking items out to our patrons, but when you see things in a different light like this, it really shows what a valuable contribution we make to our community. “
The savings number doesn’t even account for the library’s digital offerings of ebooks and audio books. Marshall Public Library patrons checked out an additional 28,695 digital items since last year, making the potential savings even higher.