We could all use a raise – at least that’s something I champion for every day. However, if a raise isn’t in your future maybe there is a way to feel as though you have more money.
Go to the library.
In a study by the UK’s Department for Culture, Media & Sport, it quantified what it meant for people to go to libraries, museums, participating in sports and more. According to the Quantifying and Valuing the Wellbeing Impacts of Culture and Sport, going to the library frequently was given a value of £1,359 per year (the equivalent if about 2,284 US dollars).
It also states that visiting libraries added to life satisfaction of those that participated in the poll.
Of course, quantifying going to the library would be different for many people. When it comes to money, people save by not spending a lot on books as they would if they bought every book that they read. However, quantifying the mental satisfaction of a book seems a bit difficult and hard to actually put a number as this study did, which is why this clause was placed in the study:
“The results should be taken with some caveats and caution. As with any study using observational data and a selection on observables assumption (whereby differences in characteristics between participating and non-participating groups are assumed to be observable in the data and hence can be controlled for), we cannot fully claim causality in these findings.”
In the meantime, while I wait for that raise, I’ll be hanging out in the library feeling richer.
Read the full report here.
