Questions relating to a library insurance investigation

[tortillafactory]

Setting: Present-day small town America.

Search terms: "library revenue," "how do libraries make money," "privately owned library," "insurance investigation," "insurance investigator"

In this story, a woman owns and runs her own library. It is open to the public, but privately owned (obviously). I gather that such libraries exist, but I am

Comments

[caprinus]

"how do libraries make money"

They don't. Honestly, libraries only lose money, in my experience. Or break even, if they stick to their budget -- but the money in that budget will be coming out of someone else's pocket, a grant, an operating endowment, etc.

OK, I exaggerate, I am sure there are private for-profit libraries out there. The only way to turn a profit would be from subscriptions/memberships, which would have to be quite high to offset the costs, which means the product would have to be unique and highly sought after. They're unlikely to exist in a small town.

What makes you think the library you linked to is privately owned, though? http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-displaylibrary.pl?RC=19279 -- seems like a regular public library, and so a non-profit, funded by the town and state funds I would guess. It might be a one-person operation, it might run out of a private house (where it would pay rent), but I doubt it is incorporated as a business.

edit:

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/librarysearch/Library_detail.asp?Search=1&details=0&LibraryID=ME0125&LibraryType=LS&LibraryType=CE&LibraryType=BR&LibraryType=BS&LibraryType=BM&ID=ME0125

Legal Basis:
Non-profit Association or Agency

So there you go :)