WASHINGTON, DC — Sixty-two percent of Generation Y — tech-loving adults aged 18 – 30 — visited a public library during 2007, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.Unlike previous generations, however, they weren’t there to check out books or research among the stacks. They were there to use the libraries’ computers.
Overall, 53-percent of U.S. adult said they had visited libraries during 2007. More than two-thirds of survey respondents in all age groups reported visiting libraries primarily to access the internet or perform other research via the computers most libraries make available free of charge to their patrons.
“Internet use seems to create an information hunger, and it is information-savvy young people who are most likely to visit libraries,” Leigh Estabrook, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois and co-author of a report about the Pew survey results, told Computerworld.
The survey also found that for help with a variety of common problems, more people turn to the internet than consult experts or family members to provide information and resources.
According to the survey, internet users were more than twice as likely to patronize libraries as non-Internet users.
The Pew survey results stand in stark contrast to the results of a 1996 survey conducted by the Benton Foundation, which found young adult saw libraries becoming increasingly irrelevant in the future.
Instead, the Pew survey revealed a steady decline in library patronage as respondents aged. Fifty-seven percent of adult aged 43 – 52 said they visited a library in 2007, followed by 46-percent of adults aged 53 – 61, 42-percent of adults aged 62 – 71 and only 32-percent of adults older than 72.
“We were surprised by these findings, particularly in relation to Generation Y,” said Lee Rainie, co-author of the study and director of the Pew project.
The survey included 2,796 Americans who were contacted by phone. It was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency that offers support for U.S. libraries.
