Pew Survey Offers Mixed Message

To the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the news was “Survey Challenges Belief That the Internet Reduces Library Use.” To the American Library Association, it “supports our assertion that libraries are flourishing.” To many in the press, it revealed that Generation Y uses libraries the most.

While the survey released December 30, 2007, Information Searches That Solve Problems: How People Use the Internet, Government Agencies, and Libraries When They Need Help, had some good news for libraries, it also contained some sobering news: libraries are low on the list of sources people consult.

The survey, conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and funded by the IMLS, focused on “some [ten] common problems that have connections to government agencies and programs,” including dealing with a health concern, starting a business, and helping with citizenship.

While public libraries have never been the first place to go for such information, the results suggest that libraries' position is not necessarily solid.

Some 58% of respondents chose the Internet (at multiple locations, including the library), 53% asked professionals, 45% conferred with friends and family, 36% chose newspapers and magazines, 34% directly contacted government offices, 16% consulted television and radio, and 13% went to the public library.

Nearly two-thirds of those who did go to the public library said they sought access to computers, 58% used reference books, and 42% checked newspapers and magazines. By far, the problem most likely to be cited by those who visited libraries related to education.

Regardless of the channel chosen, the results were similar: 65% of those who approached the government for help reported success, while 64% reported success at the library and 63% using the Internet.

Gen Y boost?

There was some good if perhaps confusing news: while 21% of Gen Y (18- to 30-year-olds) said they used libraries, 40% said they are very or somewhat likely to go to the public library if faced with a problem in the future. Only 11% of those in Gen X (31–41) use the library, but 25% of them predicted library uses. Principal author Leigh Estabrook, professor emerita, UIUC, told LJ that “just asking the question puts libraries in people's minds as a place to go.”

Those with no Internet access or only dial-up connections rely on TV and radio to investigate government aid programs. While 40% of those surveyed said they preferred to access government documents via the Internet, 31% preferred the mail, 19% preferred picking them up at a government office, and 6% said they'd go to the library.

Given that Internet users, regardless of income, were more likely than nonusers to go to the library, the report concludes that Internet use isn't making libraries less relevant: “But many more people consider going to libraries than actually do.”

One in ten people—and three out of ten Latinos—who faced one of the problems mentioned in the study considered using the library but didn't do so; that suggests the need for further research, concluded the report. It also suggests the need for better marketing.