Gen Y and Libraries
So this one puzzles me: Generation Y apparently loves libraries. According to a new survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, young adults are the biggest users of American libraries. In total, 53 percent of Americans visited a library over the past year, in contrast to 62 percent of those in Generation Y. Library usage apparently declines with age: 57 percent of adults aged 43 to 52 apparently went inot a library this year, compared to 46 percent of those 53 to 61, 42 aged 62 to 71 and 32 percent of those aged 71 plus.
In some ways, it is not surprising that the young are most apt to head to the library. After all, they are the group that is still in school, so they have research to do. Still, given Gen Y’s computer savvy, you might have expected that they would have found all they wanted online, and hence never need to dust off a library card. Then again, they do seem to be working online in the libraries: more than two-thirds of users of all ages say they used the internet while at the libarary.
Actually, the survey would have been of more use if we could compare it to a like survey from a decade or two ago, but that data is not available. What we do know (from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey data, which I looked at for The Leisure Economy) is that boomers read less than their parents did at the same age (or at least spent less on books) and that the trends did not bode well for libraries.
But there you are: the libraries are still getting people of all ages through the doors. The challenge for them will be to keep them in once they have entered, and keep them interested as they move through the next stages of life.
spoonfed responds:
Posted: October 4th, 2008 at 4:20 pm →
respected Madame Nazreth,
i saw your book “the leisure economy”, in our library’s new arrivals section(which means i cannot take the book with me till Monday), and now i’m reading this post which starts with being puzzled at the y-gens frequenting libraries.the points you have raised are true but i can’t agree with the ‘research’ part, since(cultural and locational differences apart) out here, though we are in a professional educational institution, we do find time to read fiction/nonfiction unrelated to what the research demands, and this happens to be the case most of the times.
last year, we had a course we talked about the hazel henderson model of economics which was a different look at economics.
i’m not sure whether the new breed of haves and havenots will strictly differ from the existing ones in terms of demographic patterns, since leisure isn’t completely money-independent.and holidays are accessible for a niche of population which had enough bills with them in the past.
i’ll read the book for sure and am looking forward to reading more material on this subject.