Pew Research Center Report:

Young readers lukewarm about libraries

YT&Twebzine
Young readers lukewarm about libraries

    When you wander by the corner library, do you wonder whether it will someday be replaced by a grocery store, or worse, a pawn shop?


      As it turns out, the library may be safe -- for now. While an increasing number of Americans read books online, the next generation still uses the library, according to the report, Younger Americans and Public Libraries, by the Pew Research Center.  
     Here are four of the center’s findings:  

   1. Yes, the millennial generation loves technology -- 98 percent of those under 30 use the Internet. But they also understand its limits.
   “Despite their embrace of technology, 62 percent of Americans under age 30 agree there is ‘a lot of useful, important information that is not available on the Internet,’ compared with 53 percent of older Americans who believe that,” the report said.

   2. The millennial generation is more likely to gravitate toward the virtual library.
   While equally as likely as their elders to have used a library during the past year,  members the younger generation are more likely to have used a library’s website. In a September 2013 survey, Pew found that 36 percent of younger Americans had used a library website in the past year, compared with 28 percent of those 30 and older.

   3. Even though younger people value the resource, many don’t think a library’s closing would impact their community.
   Younger Americans are “among the least likely to say that libraries are important,” Pew reported, adding that 19 percent of those under 30 say “their library’s closing would have a major impact on them and their family, compared with 32 percent of older adults.” Asked about community impact, 51 percent of younger Americans said a library's closing would have “a major impact" on their community, compared with 67 percent of those 30 and older.

   4. Millennials use the library but don’t necessarily know what’s in it – beside books.    
    More than a third36 percent of millennial generation readers interviewed -- said they knew little or nothing about the local library’s services, compared with 29 percent of those 30 and older, Pew reported.

    Related:  

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    6 predictions for the Internet in 2025

    Pulse: Americans foresee a high-tech world