Slashdot Mirror
Gen Y Hits the Library the Most -- But Not For Books
Lucas123 writes "More than half of all Americans visited a library this past year and, of those, most were from Generation Y, the tech-loving young adults aged 18-30 years, according to a recent survey. The reason most cited for visiting their local public archive? Not books. Most were seeking gaming software programs, characters in the Second Life virtual world and online help with homework."
Another way to think about the results: about 47 percent of Americans didn't visit a library even once last year.
Another way to think about the results: about 47 percent of Americans didn't visit a library even once last year.
Even as a college student, I frequently find that the primary value in my college library is through its online databases. For one of my major term papers, I didn't visit the library at all, simply using my in-dorm access to journals provided through my library as sources. Although I did visit the library for the other term paper, I only used it to collect books that I had identified through Google and then did the rest of my research via Google Scholar and JSTOR. In both cases, I had full-text access to articles through my dorm's internet connection.