Library Savings Calculator -- How much is your libary worth to patrons?

I'm a big fan of calculators such as the IT Staff Calculator
that Lori Ayres developed for planning and estimating your IT staff
needs. They're not perfect of course, but they give you a sense of the
big picture and whether your projections line up with the experiences
of other libraries.

This morning Glenn from Engaged Patrons.org sent a message to the Web4Lib discussion list about an update to the Library Savings Calculator
(aka Personal Savings Calculator). By embedding this calculator into a
page on your Web site, your patrons can estimate how much money they've
saved thanks to their local library. It assigns a dollar value to every
book, CD, movie, event, hour of computer use, etc., and then determines
a total value based on the numbers entered by the patron. Chelmsford Public Library and Winter Haven Public Library both have customized versions of the calculator on their Web sites.

This calculator has been around for awhile in various forms, starting with a spreadsheet at the Massachussets Library Association,
and several libraries have added to it over time. The difference with
Glenn's version is that he's offering to customize the calculator for
your library, free of charge. Tell him which services you offer to
patrons, and the dollar value you assign to each service, and he'll
tweak the calculator to suit your needs. You need to create an account first, but it's a short, straightforward signup process.

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