Libraries Draw in Young People

Despite widespread Internet access, young Americans are actually the biggest users of libraries, defying popular expectations.

Even in an age of widely available Wi-Fi, ultracompact laptops, and constantly plummeting tech prices, it appears that libraries continue to be a major source of information for young Americans. A new survey by the the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that Generation Y, Americans aged 18 to 30, are actually the biggest users of libraries, despite popular conceptions of young people shirking libraries for the Internet.

The study attempted to find exactly where people turn with problems and questions, and ended up revealing that 40 percent of Gen Yers choose the library. Of Americans 30 and older, only 20 percent would use library resources to solve a problem, making Gen Yers twice as likely to use them.

Conventional wisdom suggested that Generation Y would show less interest in what could be seen as a relic of the pre-Internet age, leaving researchers caught off guard by their own findings. “Generation Y going to the library… is so counterintuitive to our cultural notion or expectation of this age group," Lee Rainie, one of the study’s authors,  told TechNewsWorld.  “Especially considering all the gadgets they have and their expectation of Internet access.”