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Going to the library frequently is the same as getting a pay rise of £1,359 a year, according to a new report from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
The report, Quantifying and Valuing the Wellbeing Impacts of Culture and Sport, measures which activities make people happiest and estimates the monetary values of these activities.
It found that there was a “significant association” between “frequent library use and reported well being”.
The report valued using library services frequently at the equivalent of getting a pay rise of £1,359 per person, per year, or £113 per person, per month.
Being engaged with the arts is associated with higher well being, found the report, and is valued at £1,084 per person per year, or £90 per person per month.
Sport participation is valued at £1,127 per person per year, or £94 per person per month.
The report, research for which was carried out by researchers from the London School of Economics, gives the government “new evidence of the link between our policies and the social impacts of engagement in both sport and culture”.