"The demand is insatiable," said Jill Nishi of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation this morning at the Public Library Association conference in Portland, Oregon, as she announced the release of a new and far-reaching study of public library use in the United States. "Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Public Libraries" (PDF file) gives librarians a different way to talk about the value of libraries to their communities, said Mary Chute, deputy director for libraries at the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, co-funder of the study.
Nearly one-third of Americans age 14 or older—roughly 77 million people—used a public library computer or wireless network to access the internet in the past year, according to the report. In 2009, as the nation struggled through a recession, people relied on librarians and library technology to find work, apply for college, secure government benefits, learn about critical medical treatments, and connect with their communities.
The report comes just in time for librarians to use some of its astounding statistics in the battle to retain funding as the nation recovers from the recession. Michael D. Crandall, one of the principal authors of the study, reported that 69% of the American population uses libraries, and 50% of the population aged 14 to 18 is using libraries—an unusually high statistic for any study, he noted. What distinguishes this study from most others is that it not only measured use but also asked those surveyed to talk about why they were using their libraries. General areas identified by respondents were: social connection (60%), education (42%), employment (40%), health and wellness (37%), government and legal matters (34%), community (33%), managing finances (25%), and entrepreneurship (7%, and likely the most rapidly expanding area, according to Crandall).
Earlier this morning, OCLC held a session in Portland to reveal the progress of its "Geek the Library" public awareness campaign. Scheduled for release later this year, a report on the pilot campaign—which centered on the Savannah, Georgia, area and on the Des Moines area in Iowa—is expected to show that 97% of the area population was exposed to the Geek the Library ads and that 54%–64% reported a positive response. Project manager Jennie Johnson reported that the Leo Burnett public relations firm, which steered the campaign, found the positive response rate extremely high.
OCLC’s “How Libraries Stack Up: 2010” (PDF file), offers more astonishing evidence of the impact of public libraries on the quality of life in America. For example: “Every day 300,000 Americans get job-seeking help at their public library.” And the numbers are staggering: “Every year, Americans visit the library more often than we go to the movies and six times more often than we attend live sporting events.” Another zinger: “U.S. public libraries circulate as many materials every day as FedEx ships packages worldwide.”