Young adults are actually using libraries
Just when you thought us aging Gen-Xers and our Generation iPod successors had given up on anything other than Google and Sparknotes, a new study was featured on CNN.com suggesting three things:
- Young adults actually use libraries,
- The role of libraries is evolving in an increasingly digital world, and
- Demographics, rather than Internet access alone, dictate how and when we use libraries.
According to the study,
Young adults are the heaviest users of public libraries despite the ease with which they can access a wealth of information over the Internet from the comforts of their homes...That's especially true for those who had questions related to health conditions, job training, government benefits and other problems.
While the study seems to contradict traditional notions about the current crop of young adults and their Internet "dependence," it confirms what most of us find pretty quickly when we're doing serious research: the Web is great, but Google can only get you so far. While most high-schoolers have yet to learn this lesson, it appears to have sunk in quite well for young adults.
The article also pointed out that libraries themselves are undergoing a transformation that further differentiates them from the glut of information available on the Internet.
In the decade since [a previous] report, Internet access has grown from about 44 percent of public libraries to more than 99 percent. Many libraries have rearranged spaces or moved into new quarters to accommodate the expansion in computers. In many places, individual study carrels gave way to long tables where patrons can interact.
Similarly, libraries often provide access to extensive databases not readily available to the general public surfing the Web.
Surprisingly, the groups using libraries the least were those without Internet access or with only dialup access. Given the near ubiquity of broadband availability in the States, this is clearly a demographic issue and shows that the so-called Digital Divide is alive and well in developed countries.