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Tuesday, January 1, 2008
What can I do, my dear, to make it clear?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Who uses libraries? Probably that kid with the tats and the laptop under his arm.
Fifty-three percent of Americans say they visited a library in 2007, according to a new study by the respected Pew Internet and American Life Project.
The headline that’s been going around, though — the Man Bites Dog of the report — is that the biggest users were young adults aged 18 to 30, the Gen Y people who, according to our lazy-thinking stereotypes, are way too wired to even be aware that such an old-fangled gimcracky is still around.
Among Gen Y, 62 percent saw the inside of a library this past year, compared to 32 percent of people 72 and older. Whodathunk it?
“These finding turn our thinking about libraries upside down,” said Leigh Estabrook, co-author of the report.
Or do they? About two-thirds of the people who went to a library used a computer to look up information there, according to the report. So it sounds like they’re going for the free computer access rather than to check out books.
I love books, but I haven’t set foot in a library in years. I just prefer to buy what I want to read, so I can do it more on my own schedule. Yet of all the things I support with my taxes, a strong public library system is one I’m most proud to fund.
We have some librarians who visit here, and I’m interested in hearing from them but also from everyone else.
Do you go to the library? Do you check out books or just use the computer? If you don’t go, why don’t you?
(Photo is from www.ask-a-librarian.org)
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