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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.
Finding an attractive girl with a brain in her head was always a top reason for visiting the library.
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I didn't visit the library one single time in 2007.. and the same goes for 2006. Hell I haven't stepped foot in a library since college.
I guess I'm a knuckle dragging idiot. Or, I use a much easier resource (the Internet) for my research. I buy books instead of borrowing them. So ya, I'm not terribly surprised that there are a bunch of other Americans just like me.
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I am baby boomer and have haven't been to a library for over 10 years. I used to just about live in the library, but they have become irrelevant to me. The technical section is full of out of date arcane crap, yet they spend huge sums on Oprah books and Brittany Spears CDs. A few years ago I tried to donate a box full of recent technical books to the local library; THEY REFUSED TO TAKE THEM. It used to be that even if the library didn't want the books for the shelves they took them for their book sales. The up side to that is that the local used book store gave me a good price (store credit) for the books, because they were the type of books that they can sell.
Anymore, I either get the information from the internet or I buy the books.
The original purpose of a library was to allow a community to invest a small amount of money in books and then let everyone in the community benefit from all of the books.
I think it would be appropriate for libraries to change their names to be called "Infotainment Centers", and for books to largely be replaced by computers, software, and DVD collections. Computer gaming should be perfectly acceptable -- because it is no different than people going to a traditional library and reading fantasy books or other forms of fiction. There are commercial "computer gaming rooms" and "Internet cafes" appearing in shopping plazas -- but, just as libraries have long coexisted with massive bookstore chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc), the "Infotainment Center" can coexist with commercial "Internet cafes" and gaming rooms.
There are certainly many valuable books from decades past, and it will take a long time for all of that information to be available online -- and so I hope the traditional book-archiving aspect of libraries continues for a while -- but I think a plain computer lab, for GAMING, WATCHING DVDs, for AMUSEMENT, in addition to research and learning, should be the goal of libraries. The library will serve the modern public better -- and I think recreation is a valid way to serve the public -- and the idealists who hope to hook people on "more productive" or "more educational" things like reading, reading classic literature, and learning, might benefit from having the target audience already in the facility. (I'm guessing that Borders and Barnes and Noble booksellers have discovered that letting potential customers read books at their leisure, while drinking coffee, or even studying for exams with fellow students, is all OK because having people in the store will ultimately lead to more sales of books and coffee. In the same way, getting people in to the library by having X-Box, the latest video games, open WiFi, porn DVDs, whatever, might provide opportunities to encourage "more productive" or "more educational" activities.)
My fiance and I, both in our thirties (I, only by mere days, dammit!!!! ;)), have library cards and visit often.
... Engr kids gotta drink too, partake of ye ol' mind-widening substances, and keep that GPA up.
... depending on author/writing/etc, you're in to get your hair blown back.
... say, Saturday morning. Strange things fall into place for me.
And I'll go a bit more 'lug-head' here: libraries kick some serious ass.
After finishing an engineering degree, then heading back into the library for leisure, I find the damn thing chock full of damn near everything I had previously wanted to sink time into, but simply didn't have
With a decent job and a little time to burn now, the library is a trove of wonderful books on theory - I use Oreilly's Safari for tactical, now-now-now stuff - go pick up a book at the library on a tech subject you 'pretty much know about'
Get a card. Get down to the library _before_ the urge to do dick for the weekend sets in
Libraries suck these days. Budgets are cut and unless you're looking for an old book, the odds are unless you're in a particularly forward thinking or wealthy town they're not going to have what you're looking for.
I was at my towns Library maybe a dozen times in 2007 -- and while it may be close, I'm fairly certain I donated more new books than I checked out books there.
Unless the books you read are VERY mainstream (ie, your reading is dictated by talkshow hosts), libraries just won't work anymore.
Libraries are not about books anymore than carpenters are about hammers or surgeons are about scalpels.
Instead, libraries are about the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of data and information for their respective audiences. Carpenters are about building things, and surgeons are about healing. For the longest time, information was primarily manifested in books. It is not about the books; it is about what is inside the books. Unfortunately, too many libraries have identified their tool with their trade (profession), and too many librarians have not learned how to exploit the use of computers to change the image. Sigh. No, libraries are not indispensable, but they can save people time, record the historical record for future generations, provide a neutral space for people to interact in a community, and educate a population.
The article outlines some of the ways libraries are trying to reinvent themselves, and at the same time, demonstrating how they are still about data and information for the acquisition and creation of knowledge.
I'm surprised at how many people here are proud of not going to the library, but that's more about me and my age, I suppose. I was born in 1969 and grew up in the rural South. We didn't even get cable in my town until 1980. Anyway, I grew going to the library, checking out a dozen books a week, a mixture of fiction and technical books. I lived in Memphis and Iowa City for years. Memphis libraries were horrible, because under-funded. Iowa City's library was incredibly good, and that's where I started using a library to check out DVDs, a week with a DVD for "free." Since I was a grad student, that was the right price. But I'm Knoxville, TN now, and it's hard to get much use out of the library. There's one copy of "brainy" books for the whole library system, and the local branch will have several copies of some book I wouldn't wipe my ass with, some bodice-ripper or craptastic "philosophy" book like The Secret of some pseudo history by an author like that The Irish Saved Civilization jingoist. Those books were always there and will always be around, but if you cut funding, you stop getting multiple copies of Neal Stephenson, any copies of astronomy or engineering books, and you don't have room anymore for the old copy of Joyce's Ulysses. And I don't know if you can find poetry in a public library at all. But you can find broadband, and generally there's a spotty-faced kid or a poopy-pants homeless guy looking at boobies. Or teenagers in chatrooms. There's seldom anything of value going on in the computer area, I mean nonmasturbatory value--unless you consider the chatting about who likes who and who's cute all that valuable. But computers are the NEW thing. I'd prefer we still spent the money on books. It may be a dead tech to many of you, but there's no need to rush the transition. For those of you who consider your local bookstore a library, please remember that most of our population can't afford to view it that way. Even a crappy mass market paperback is $8 these days. And not all communities even have the markets to support a bookstore. YMMV -- but give the old B&M library a try. At least you can encourage with your own interests that they cater to some poor kid somewhere who doesn't know yet that he wants to turn out liking the same stuff as you.
When I lived in an urban area, I never went near a library. I could get broadband, there were lot of bookstores, and there were movie rental places on almost every corner. A couple of years ago I moved to a very rural area and rediscovered the joy of going to a library. There was no broadband in the area. The nearest bookstore was 75 miles away. The local video rental had about 150 titles. So any option to use the Internet, buy books, or rent movies was limited, to put it mildly. Then I visited the library. Broadband connection. Books to choose from, and if they didn't have it, they could get it. A huge selection of movie titles. All for free!
I still live in this area, and we now have broadband, but the book stores are still far away, and movie rental options still suck. So I still visit my local library regularly. I get to check out books, and if I do like them, I'll go ahead and order them from one of the on-line retailers for a personal copy. If I don't like it, I'm only out some time.
In this area at least, the library is a valuable resource, and one that's there when you need it. If you don't have the money, or thing like broadband, bookstores, or movie rentals simply aren't there, the library is. Even if you aren't in need of it now, it doesn't mean it's irrelevant or useless.