79% of the US Adult Population Are Engaged With Libraries: Pew

By Dianna Dilworth 

pewTen percent of the U.S. adult population can be categorized as library lovers, while 30 percent are highly engaged with public libraries, and an additional 39 percent have a medium level of engagement with libraries, according to new metrics from Pew Research Center.

Pew surveyed 6,224 Americans ages 16 and older (which is about three times larger than their usual surveys) to determine the public’s interest in libraries in the era of technology. Pew identified interest in libraries and information and grouped the population into the high engagement group, the medium engagement group, the low engagement group, the non-engagement group, and those totally off the grid,

Here is more about these groups from the report:

Broadly speaking, adults with higher levels of education and household income are more likely to use public libraries than those with lower household incomes and lower levels of education. However, among those who have used a library in the past year, adults living in lower-income households are morelikely to say various library services are very important to them and their familiesthan those living in higher-income households.