Tech Crunch.com

A recent study finds strong support for a bastion of the print world: libraries. More than half of Americans 16 or older visited a library during the past year, and of those who did, 26% plan to increase library usage during the next year while 22% plan to cut back. Asked if libraries should clear out some of their book stacks to make way for more technical resources, 36% said definitely not,compared to 20% who supported such a change. It would appear that while print may be on the decline, the role of the library as a community gathering place is still secure for now.

….

Le sondage qui suit devrait surprendre la Bibliothèque interculturelle de Montréal qui veut absolument faire dans le convivial.
.
Bring back shushing librarians

.
Library users plead for quiet places to read, write and study — but is anybody listening?

By Laura Miller, Salon

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center, “Library Services in the Digital Age,” polled a nationally representative sample of 2,252 Americans about what they get, and want, from public libraries. Like many such studies, the Pew survey is so focused on unusual programs and activities not typically associated with libraries that it tends to overlook the mere provision of a peaceful place to read and think. Nevertheless, the parts of the report dedicated to what people really want from their libraries makes the public’s wishes clear.

The two services that patrons regard as most essential in a library are “librarians to help people find information” and “borrowing books,” each rated as “very important” by 80 percent of respondents. Next comes “free access to computers and the Internet,” rated very important by 77 percent of those surveyed. No surprises there. These three services are what nearly everyone has come to regard as a public library’s core mission.

“Quiet study spaces for adults and children” comes in fourth, and here is where the results go rogue. The percentage of people who consider quiet spaces to be a very important element in any public library is 76, only one percentage point less than the value given to computer and Internet access. A relatively silent place to read is almost exactly as valuable to these people as the Internet!

(…)

But 89 percent of African-Americans (as well as 81 percent of urban residents and 81 percent of women) also consider quiet to be a very important provision. (….). If you live with family members in crowded conditions, it isn’t easy to find the tranquility to read, study or write — which makes it that much harder to get the education you need to improve those conditions.