Perceptions on Library Funding

OCLC was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to explore attitudes and perceptions about library funding and to evaluate the potential of a large-scale marketing and advocacy campaign to increase public library funding in the U.S.

Among the findings from the report:

-       Library funding support is only marginally related to library visitation.

-       Perceptions of librarians are an important predictor of library funding support..

-       Voters who see the library as a 'transformational' force as opposed to an 'informational' source are more likely to increase taxes in its support.

The report suggests that targeting marketing messages to the right segments of the voting public is key to driving increased support for U.S. public libraries.

De Rosa, C., Johnson, J., Gauder, B., Limes, R., Smith, S., & Burnett, L. (2008). From awareness to funding: A study of library support in America. Dublin, OH: https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/reports/funding/fullreport.pdf