Search results for: “libraries”

The focus of this report is the creation of a new typology of Americans’ public engagement with public libraries, which sheds light on broader issues around the relationship between technology, libraries, and information resources in the United States. It serves as a capstone to the three years of research the Pew Research Center has produced […]

About the report This report is part of a larger research effort by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project that is exploring the role libraries play in people’s lives and in their communities. The research is underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This report contains findings from a nationally representative survey of […]

The three low engagement groups in our typology—Not For Me, Young and Restless, and Rooted and Roadblocked—fall at the farthest end of the spectrum of library users. Unlike members of the medium engagement groups, who generally report being moderately active in their library habits, only about a third of the low engagement users have used […]

Medium engagement groups make up almost 40% of the overall U.S. population, and often mirror the general population in their habits, views, and demographics. This is especially true of the larger of the two groups, the Solid Center, who make up 30% of Americans ages 16 and older. The other medium engagement group, Print Traditionalists, […]

The final category in our library engagement typology represents the almost 15% of Americans ages 16 and older who have never personally used a public library in their lifetime. These “never” library users break out into two non-engagement groups: Distant Admirers and Off the Grid. Though neither group has any personal library experience, they have […]

Creating the Typology This library engagement typology divides the public into seven groups of people who have ever used a public library, either in person or online, in addition to two groups of people who have never used a public library. The assignment of individuals to one of the seven core typology groups is based on a two-step analysis […]