Using examples drawn from innovative services initiated with support from the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme, (EIFL-PLIP), this paper explores the ways in which public libraries contribute to the economic wellbeing of individuals and communities in different urban and rural settings. In urban areas, public library economic improvement services have primarily targeted the unemployed. In rural areas, economic improvement services have mostly targeted farmers.  The paper suggests a practical research methodology through which libraries can measure their contribution to economic wellbeing in their communities.

Written by EIFL-PLIP team members Jean Fairbairn and Ugne Lipeikaite and presented by Jean Fairbairn at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress 2014.