I am a typical American consumer. I buy books, music, and movies for my own entertainment, and the objects spend more time on my shelves than they do in their respective playback devices. I make an exception for music as everything I buy is almost immediately transcoded digitally and transfered to a portable media device. The entertainment industry is thankful for people like me. I don’t even maximize my Netflix subscription, which I seem to have kept despite considering quitting the program over two years ago.
The library should be a money-saving option for people who like reading, watching movies, and otherwise consuming media. I found a calculator that will put into numbers how much money you could save by utilizing a library’s services rather than opting to buy everything you consume. The calculator is designed for library patrons who already use the free services and would like to see how much they are currently saving, but a slight modification in the terminology would focus the calculator on how much you could save by getting to know your friendly neighborhood librarian.
A quick run of the calculation shows that I could save $100 per month in books, movies, and CDs alone. How much could you save by visiting the library rather than the store?
Personal Library Savings Calculator, Winter Haven (Florida) Public Library
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How Much You Can Save By Using a Free Library
