There Will Be Libraries

So much for the looming death of libraries.

According to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, in the past 12 months, among Americans 16 or older, 59 percent had at least one interaction with the public library system. It broke down this way:

• 53 percent visited a library or bookmobile
• 25 percent visited a library website
• 13 percent used a smartphone or tablet computer to access a library website

Pew's recent survey of 2,252 Americans, entitled Library Services in the Digital Age, revealed that libraries remain very important to U.S. private and public life. In fact, support for libraries is nearly universal. "Fully 91 percent of Americans ages 16 and older say public libraries are important to their communities; and 76 percent say libraries are important to them and their families." And it isn't mere opinion, but also action: 84 have at some point visited a library or bookmobile.

But libraries have, and must, continue to adapt to the digital age. 77 percent of respondents say, "free access to computers and the internet is a 'very important' service of libraries." At the same time a slightly higher percentage want existing library service to remain in place. "80 percent of Americans say borrowing books is a 'very important' service libraries provide," and "80 percent say reference librarians are a 'very important' service of libraries."

While all Americans support libraries, "African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely to say libraries are important to them and their families, to say libraries are important to their communities, to access the internet at the library (and feel internet access is a very important service libraries provide), to use library internet access to hunt/apply for jobs, and to visit libraries just to sit and read or study."

True, books, magazines and newspapers must share library facilities with digital access, but as an institution, the public library remains extremely popular and in widespread use.

Library Services in the Digital Age (Pew Internet Project, Jan. 22, 2013)

Pew Study Suggests Libraries (And Print) Still Have A Future In An E-Book World (TechCrunch, Jan. 21, 2013)