Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Libraries’ strengths In addition to asking our online panel of library staff members about various services that libraries do offer or might offer in the future, we also asked about what they considered to be libraries’ strengths. One common theme was libraries’ role as a community center, and their connection to patrons and other local […]
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat is housed in a boxy, nondescript building in a section of downtown Santa Rosa, Calif. with a distinctly old-fashioned feel. But on the main floor of the newspaper, right off the lobby, visitors enter a modern space with large conference rooms, big plasma screens and sleek black furniture that would […]
The arts organizations represented in the survey tend to agree with the notions that the internet and social media have “increased engagement” and made art a more participatory experience, and that they have helped make “arts audiences more diverse.” They also tend to agree that the internet has “played a major role in broadening the […]
Overview While the issue of gun control remains divisive, there are clear areas of agreement when it comes to a number of gun policy proposals. Fully 85% of Americans favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, with comparable support from Republicans, Democrats and independents. Similarly, 80% support laws […]
Our new report takes a close look not only at how Americans are using public libraries, but also what sort of services and programming they think libraries should offer — and what they say they would use in the future. For this last point, we asked about a range of potential offerings. Here are illustrations of some of these more innovative services, to see what they look like on the ground — as well as some “fun and funky” services that we’ve seen pop up at libraries across the county.
In addition to asking people how they use their local public libraries, we also asked them about how much they felt they know about the different services and programs their library offers. We also examined how important Americans feel various library services are to their communities, and explored what sort of activities and resources people […]
Though the most popular social media are less than a decade old, they have transformed arts organizations’ outreach and engagement with their audiences. Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed here say that their organization has a profile or page on a social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Flickr. In addition, 69% of these […]
Respondents’ thoughts Descriptions of future economic stress and economic divides were prevalent in responses to this survey question on higher education. While some who chose the first scenario said educational institutions are too static and will not move forward quickly to implement new digitally assisted approaches, others who chose that scenario said such change is […]
By 2020, experts think tech-enhanced homes, appliances, and utilities will spread, but many of the analysts believe we still won’t likely be living in the long-envisioned ‘Homes of the Future’