You'd think that with the gadgets invented and software programs engineered to deliver information with ease, people, especially the young adults would rather consult online resources than go to public libraries to read books, right?
Well according to the study conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project and the University of Illinois, that's not usually the case.
"The age of books isn't yet over," said Lee Rainie, Pew's director.
The study found that library usage drops gradually as people age - to 62 percent among Americans generally aged 18-30 compared with 32 percent among those 72 and up, with a sharp decline just as Americans turn 50.
"It was truly surprising in this survey to find the youngest adults are the heaviest library users," Rainie said. "The notion has taken hold in our culture that these wired-up, heavily gadgeted young folks are swimming in a sea of information and don't need to go to places where information is."
As a young adult, being overwhelmed by information overload from the Internet will definitely drive me to the public libraries to read books. I also do know that most of the information found on the Internet is at times less reliable than the info that I can get from printed books.
How about you? Will you choose a book over an e-book? A public library over the Internet? Why?
I have never been a fan of libraries, I've always found them to be dusty allergy traps. Even as a college student I was able to find reliable online sources, including peer reviewed achedemic journal articles in electronic databases. When I happened to go into the library, I found that the most current books were unavailable and the shelves were overflowing with resources from the 1970s. It was very frustrating.
When it comes to reading literature, my friends and I pass our books around. I personally don't like ebooks because its hard on the eyes and, since I spend most of my days reading for work, I have very little interest in reading for pleasure. There are several books on my list to read though, but I will purchase them or borrow them from a friend.
Posted by: Kimberlee Morrison | January 2, 2008 1:40 AM | Permalink to Comment