Check out this interesting report on young people’s perceptions of Idaho’s public libraries. The report, prepared by Corona Research for the Idaho Commission for Libraries in August 2007, compiled the results of six focus groups conducted with “digital natives”–young people between the ages of 12 and 25 regarding what they thought of and how they used their public libraries.
Some of the findings are perhaps not surprising. Public libraries are seen as providing programs for little kids and adults, but not for teens. Libraries are serious places to do research, but not to read for enjoyment. Libraries that are open, well-lit, and have comfortable seating are perceived as more user-friendly. Because libraries are seen–and enforced as–quiet places, they are not viewed as being good places for young people to socialize at (and amen to that, say I). Any library’s teen section should be sound-proofed to the nth degree–but I digress.
Of course, to make some of the changes suggested by the participants such as staying open later at night or adding a teen section, libraries would need to have funding. A lot more funding. Most of the libraries I know of are short-staffed and are kept from adding services because they lack the people. Still, the report is a good read especially if you are interested in bringing more young people into your library.
Here’s a selection of quotes from the participants:
- “A library needs to say, ‘Come read, stay here, have a nice day.’”
- “When you’re little, they have programs where they’ll read to you and stuff… but they don’t really do anything for older kids.”
- “I’m not sure how to say it without it sounding so cliche, but I think books, just paper books, kind of transcend time.”
- “I think a library has to have a building to call itself a library, or else it’s just a website.”
- “You can’t talk in there, really; you get in trouble, so we don’t go there anymore.”
- “The library I like has coffee, and it’s open (has more space)… and you can find stuff easier than the one that’s closest to me.”
- “It’s no fun. You can’t talk to your friends in a place where it’s supposed to be quiet.”
- “Our library has a lot of activities… they have the community involved, and it’s a good library.”
- “When you put a book on hold, it takes forever to get there, a week and a half or two, and by that time, you don’t want to read it anymore!”
- “And there’s only an adult and a little kid section; I think there should be a pre-teen and teen section.”
- “For me, it’s hard to… find the books by yourself. It’s hard to find them without a librarian.”
- “I love learning. It makes me feel smarter, more knowledgeable, and more powerful.”
- “As far as a purpose for the community, I would think more of the younger kids, for the summer or something.”
- “It’s a community source of information.”
- “I always think of Hastings (Bookstores) as like the ideal library.”
- “It’s hard to search for books unless you know an actual title.”
- “Their advertising isn’t very good; the only advertising you ever see is when you’re at the library.”
- “I like the bookstore myself; you can see the covers, just to hang out and scan the books and stuff like that.”
- “Libraries right now look so boring. (I)n Salt Lake, that library is an experience to go to. It’s big, it looks good, it’s appealing to your eye.”
- “I always want new release books, and they’re never there. I think also, that might be another generational thing, instant gratification.”
- “I think the public libraries would have a hard time with having the resources to accomplish a full online library like the universities do.”
- “Even though I have a laptop, I still use the library because they have free wi-fi.”
- “Coffee and books, that’s just the best thing, relaxing with a book and drinking a coffee… I don’t know, the coffee’s just nice.”
And my favorite:
Regarding librarians: “They’re the easy way, the shortcut. They’re like the Google of the library.”
