More Americans favor the quiet, serene surroundings of the library than the boisterous, brash explosions on the big screens at the movie theater, according to a Gallup poll — or at least, they did in 2019.
Perhaps most surprising was the amount by which Americans favored the library, making almost double the trips.
If you expected the popcorn and the car chases to be the bigger draw, think again.
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According to the poll, Americans chose to hit up their local library an average of 10.5 times in 2019, while the movies ranked second with 5.3 trips on average last year.
The library was, in fact, the top destination for leisure activities in 2019.
Attending a live sporting event, attending a live music or theater event, and visiting a national or historical park rounded out the top five, after the library and the movies.
If it’s a bit unexpected that so many people are using America’s libraries, who all is going, and why?
Well, as to the why, it’s already paid for.
Taxes pay for libraries, obviously, so you don’t get charged every time you go through the doors, like you do at the movies or other events.
And libraries have more going on there than just books: often there are community events for kids, and libraries offer movie rentals and free wifi as well, among many other things.
So, as the poll noted, libraries are especially popular among young adults, women, and residents of low-income households.
Women visited the library almost twice as often as men — 13.4 trips vs. 7.5 — and people aged 18 to 29 visited much more often than older age groups — an average of 15.5 times over the year, compared to just 6.8 visits among 50-64 year-olds — possibly owing largely to college students.
It just goes to show that, in an age with more entertainment options than ever, the library remains a popular way to spend leisure time.
And it reinforces a 2016 Pew Research Center report that concluded that Americans don’t want libraries to go anywhere. In that report, two-thirds of Americans said that closing their local libraries would hurt their communities.
“People think that libraries are a major contributor to their communities in providing a safe place to spend time, creating educational opportunities for people of all ages, and sparking creativity among young people,” the report said.
Last Updated on January 28, 2020 by Ryan Ford
