Communicating the value of your libraries

Purpose – Aims to focus on the issue of value in libraries. Design/methodology/approach – Draws from research conducted to set up a conservative transportable cost‐benefit analysis (CBA) methodology that could be applied to public libraries. The paper discusses the CBA‐survey participant comments draws out the value themes that interviewees talked about as they answered various questions. Findings – There is a huge tendency in North America to talk about libraries as if they are secular churches and to impute spiritual values to them. This paper suggests that while library users may hold such feelings, that is not the first line of reasons for why they use their library. Originality/value – Shows how library communications needs to be framed in the practical as well as the ethereal, the practical along with the ideal.