From the Pew Research Center:
Millennials in America are more likely to have visited a public library in the past year than any other adult generation.
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 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 four-in-ten Millennials (41%) 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.
. . . .
Beyond demonstrating generational differences in library use, the survey showed other demographic differences in library use. For instance:
- Women are more likely than men to say they visited a public library or bookmobile in the past 12 months (54% vs. 39%). And 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%). And 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%).
Link to the rest at the Pew Research Center
I’m surprised the number is so high. In my own family, I don’t of anyone using the library in the last ten years or so. But they’re regular customers at Amazon.com. As for myself, I haven’t checked out any books from my local library since a doctor pointed out to me how germ-laden the books are.
Me mother’s not been in one in years, she just goes online and gets them to send three books to her kindle every other week (no germs are sent with the bits! 😉 )
The evidence for disease transmission via library books is pretty thin: a 1911 study in which the dirtiest parts of library books were soaked and and the solution injected into guinea pigs. The pigs got sick. Duh. A more recent study in Antwerp (Netherlands) detected trace cocaine and other drugs on library books, but only traces, not significant quantities. Bed bugs seem to be more of a threat, but only in areas with significant bed bug infestations.
Until further evidence is submitted, I will call “germ-laden library books” a myth. Until someone shows me a study that shows library paper book readers as a group are statistically sick more often with object-transmissible diseases, I doubt that I will stop reading library books during lunch breaks.
However, I think I would hold off from licking books clean.
I’ve head that traces of cocaine are also found on money (bills). I sniff them but nothing happens.
OMG, this is so true! My nephew, a kid who rides a skateboard and wears skinny pants, gets ALL of his books from the library and has done so for years! He’s sixteen now. But for him it started with a few popular book series like Dairy of A Wimpy Kid, and then he loves Manga.
Is there a distinction between “visited” and “used”? I haven’t visited my local library in a few years but I check books out from it’s Overdrive page all the time.
The next question is, “what did the use the library *for*?”
My local public library has discarded about half of its books, even though they moved to a larger building. Their main focus seems to be videos, internet access, and the conference rooms. And, unfortunately, it now seems to be used as a public daycare center for parents who don’t want to arrange for a babysitter.
Books? Why would anyone want to go to a library for that?
Why would anyone want to go to a library for that?
Millennials hunkered down in a safe space?
how much of this is that they are the youngest generation of adults?
I would expect that in any such survey, the youngest generation (with the least work experience, and therefor the lowest pay) will always be the most likely to make use of public libraries