Economic Value of Book Loans - The Case of the Municipal Library of Prague

Recent efforts to assess the value of public library services have been aimed at using the contingent valuation method in order to reveal the hidden preferences of the consumers (readers). However, the total value of public library expressed in one number does not reflect the needs of public libraries’ management. Therefore, this paper aims to bridge this gap and investigates the most important service, book loans, thoroughly. The results suggest that: (1) only few socio-economic characteristics affect the WTP for book loans; (2) the purpose of the book loan is one of the most important determinants of the WTP; (3) alternative costs affect only the WTP for buying books. We propose several directions leading to the increase in the value of this public library service, namely the focus on specific target groups and genres and providing additional information. The results of this work can be implemented to achieve a more efficient management of public libraries. Key-Words: book loan, public library, library services, willingness to pay, contingent valuation.