Millennials Want to Keep Libraries

September 22, 2017

Many people think that libraries are obsolete and are only for senior citizens who want to read old paperbacks.  The Pew Research Center says otherwise in the article, “Most Americans-Especially Millennials-Say Libraries Can Help Them Find Reliable, Trustworthy Information.”

Sensationalism in the news is not new, but it has reached extraordinary new heights with the Internet and mass information consumption.  In order to gain audiences, news outlets (if some of them can be called that) are doing anything they can and this has lead to an outbreak of fake news.

The Pew Research Center conducted a test to see if adults would like to be taught how to recognize fake information and discovered that 61% said they would.  They also discovered that 78% of adults feel that libraries can help them find trustworthy information.  An even more amazing fact is that Millennials are the biggest supporters for libraries.

A large majority of Millennials (87%) say the library helps them find information that is trustworthy and reliable, compared with 74% of Baby Boomers (ages 52 to 70) who say the same. More than eight-in-ten Millennials (85%) credit libraries with helping them learn new things, compared with 72% of Boomers. And just under two-thirds (63%) of Millennials say the library helps them get information that assists with decisions they have to make, compared with 55% of Boomers.

People also use the libraries to receive technology training and gain confidence in these skills.  Other interesting facts are that women are more likely than men to say that libraries help them find reliable information.  Hispanic people also love the library and see it as an essential tool to cope with the busy world.  Also, those without a high school diploma say that libraries help them in more than one way.

Libraries are far from obsolete.  Libraries are epicenters for technology training and finding reliable and trustworthy information in world hooked on sensationalism.

Whitney Grace, September 22, 2015

 

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