New York Public Library
I have written before about the reality behind the myth that youngsters no longer read. Now, a Pew Research Center survey has the surprising answer to the question, which adult generation is more likely to have visited a public library in the past year: it’s the Millennials. Yes, the same Millennials widely accused of not reading!
A new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data from fall 2016 finds that 53% of Millennials (those ages 18 to 35 at the time) say they used a library or bookmobile in the previous 12 months. That compares with 45% of Gen Xers, 43% of Baby Boomers and 36% of those in the Silent Generation (it is worth noting that the question wording specifically focused on the use of public libraries, not on-campus academic libraries),
All told, 46% of adults ages 18 and older say they used a public library or bookmobile in the previous 12 months – a share that is broadly consistent with Pew Research Center findings in recent years.
Members of the youngest adult generation are also more likely than their elders to have used library websites. About 41% of Millennials used a library website in the past 12 months, compared with 24% of Boomers. In all, 31% of adults used a library website in the past 12 months, which is similar to the percentage that reported using library websites in late 2015.
Other Trends
Beyond demonstrating generational differences in library use and ending the myth that libraries aren’t relevant in the Internet age, the survey showed other demographic differences in library use. Specifically:
- Women are more likely than men to have visited a public library or bookmobile in the past 12 months (54% vs. 39%).
- Women are similarly more likely to use library websites (37% vs. 24%).
- College graduates are more likely than those whose education ended with a high school diploma to use libraries or bookmobiles in the past 12 months (56% vs. 40%). A similar gap applies to use of library websites.
- Parents of minor children are more likely than non-parents to have used a library in the past 12 months (54% vs. 43%).
So, let’s hear it for those kids, women, grads, and parents!
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Nicholas, I love my kindle, my books, iPhone and there is no reason why eBooks can’t have lots of artwork. My first eBook had forty drawings, but when I republished I removed the art- very expensive to publish and many younger people don’t really like it, because they want more grown looking books. If anyone knows differently, let know that my experience is a one off. My extended family experience is that I was given a book to read before I could, I probably wasn’t even walking yet. So, I also did that for my two daughters and we haunted libraries and loved bookstores. Both are avid readers and I never saw my mother without a book in her hand – really!!. Karen 🙂
Thank you for sharing your experience, Karen! We, too, have given plenty of books to the wee one, so I hope that will create another bookworm 🙂
Yes!! Lots of wee bookworms! Karen 🙂
Hogwash! Every generation reads … clay tablets and cave art to papryus to paperbacks to the iPhone X. The only thing that changes is the delivery system.
Hear hear 🙂
Great news that they are still reading!
Thanks, Nicholas.
Best wishes, Pete.
I thought that would cheer people up 🙂
As someone recently retired from the library profession, I think this is great news. I wonder if the higher number of visits to libraries by millennials can be explained by the fact that some of them are parents of minor children. In any case, it’s good they’re introducing their kids to libraries and books.
That’s a good point! I see in our household how many more books we’ve bought since the new arrival.
Real picture books seem to pack more magic than e-versions, somehow.
I second that, even though I love my Kindle 🙂