2. Public Support for Libraries

Buildings, books, and bytes Libraries and communities in the digital age

Published by Benton Foundation
Funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation

2. Public Support for Libraries

Libraries enjoy substantial public support in the digital age

Americans support digital library collections, access, and services

Americans are evenly divided over whether libraries in the future should be a place for books or digital information

Americans want libraries to provide digital information -- and they are willing to spend tax dollars to make this happen

Details of the public opinion survey (sidebar)

Families with children are much more likely to have home computers and use libraries

Americans are uncertain about librarians' roles as trainer and navigator for the information superhighway

Americans look to libraries to provide computer services to individuals who don't have their own computers

Library buildings score high

Americans are mixed in their support for libraries as community centers

How important are these library services to you? (sidebar)

Summary of focus group findings

Earlier survey research reveals strong public backing for public libraries (sidebar)

L

ibrary leaders should be encouraged overall by findings of the public opinion survey conducted for this report that revealed that the public stands behind libraries. Notably, the survey documents that the public is willing to back up this support with financial resources -- even to the point of paying extra fees beyond taxes already paid to support digital library services. And the points on which library leaders and the public agree are substantial.

But the survey -- and the subsequent focus group -- also sound a note of caution. The youngest Americans surveyed -- the 18-24 age group -- registered weak support for library digital activities and for library buildings. Nonlibrary users were not enthusiastic about paying more taxes to support libraries and preferred a pay-as-you-go approach. A strong plurality of Americans said they would ask "somebody they know" to learn more about computers, rather than their local librarian. Perhaps this reflects a sentiment voiced in the focus group: that libraries' rightful place in the emerging digital age is "behind the curve," rather than in front of it.
Among the survey's key findings:

The public strongly supports public libraries and wants them to take a leadership role in providing access to computers and digital information. At the same time, the public voices substantial support for maintaining such traditional library services as book collections and offering reading hours and other programs for children.
There is a high correlation between those who are frequent library users, frequent bookstore patrons, and those who have access to a personal computer. This would seem to suggest that some library leaders' fears that bookstores will win away library customers may be groundless. In fact, rather than competing with one another, as one leader suggested, bookstores, libraries, and computers may be cross-fertilizing each other's constituencies.
A majority of Americans do not think libraries' importance will decrease as personal computer use becomes more widespread. Equal numbers of Americans believe libraries should spend their resources on digital information, as opposed to book and other printed information. Thus library leaders' vision of a hybrid library may be winning some adherents among the public.
Despite fears voiced by library leaders that current antigovernment sentiment will hamper libraries' ability to raise money to support digital and traditional collections, the public says it is willing to pay additional taxes and fees for these services. A cautionary note should be added, however. Library users are willing to pay more taxes, but nonlibrary users want fees charged to individual users instead.
Some of the library leaders expressed concern that home computers would compete directly for library users. But a majority of those polled, when asked how they would spend $20 on digital resources if they had a computer at home, voted to spend that money in taxes to allow the local public library to develop an information service that could be accessed from home. Only a third wanted to use the money to buy their own computer disks for individual use.
The survey found that families with children are much more likely to have computers at home -- and also to use their local public library. This suggests there is a strong nexus between children, computers, and libraries, one that librarians should take note of and consider carefully as they seek to attract growing numbers of library supporters and users.
The public values the notion that librarians should take on responsibilities for aiding users who want to navigate the information superhighway. When asked where they would go to learn more about using computers, however, a strong plurality of Americans said they would ask "somebody they know," rather than their local librarian. Nevertheless, the potential exists to develop the librarian's information navigator role, especially if it can be promoted as the institutional equivalent of that "somebody you know."
Maintaining and building library buildings was ranked third among all the library functions listed in the poll, right behind providing children's services and books.
The public favors using libraries for community meetings, although this role is ranked lower than all but one of nine other roles and library activities read to survey respondents.
The public voices less enthusiasm than library leaders for setting up computers in remote locations like shopping malls to ease access to library information.
Americans divide along demographic lines on some key issues affecting libraries. For example, the youngest Americans polled, those between the ages of 18 and 24, are the least enthusiastic boosters of maintaining and building library buildings. They are also the least enthusiastic of any age group about the importance of libraries in a digital future. And they vote to spend their own money on computer disks rather than contributing the same amount in tax dollars to the library for purchasing digital information for home use. Older Americans, the poll revealed, want the library to provide these services and generally are less enthusiastic about computer services in the library than younger respondents. Minorities favor providing computer services to so-called information have-nots, are strong supporters of more library buildings, and are willing to pay extra taxes and fees for more library-based digital services. Lower-income Americans are least likely to ask a friend for help in mastering computer skills; this group might be particularly receptive to librarians as digital information trainers.

Libraries enjoy substantial public support in the digital age

For the vast majority of Americans, libraries are a highly valued institution -- even with the advent of virtually unrestricted access to information from one's home computer.

Respondents say that libraries will be at least as important in the digital age as they are now. Respondents were asked whether they thought public libraries would become more or less important than they are now, as the use of computers continues to grow. A majority of Americans don't think libraries' importance will decrease. That majority split evenly between those who said libraries would become more important (40 percent) and those who thought their significance would not change (38 percent). A fifth of respondents indicated that libraries' importance would decline. While this is a small group, it should be noted that it is twice the percentage recorded in a 1995 survey (see the box below).

The responses to this question, though certainly positive, should be interpreted with some caution. In the survey, 24 percent of those with access to a personal computer said libraries would become less important, as opposed to 16 percent of those who lack such access. These findings suggest that as access to computers swells, the number of Americans who say that libraries will become less important in the digital age may well expand.

Another possible pitfall is that the group with the lowest level of backing for the notion of libraries' increasing importance was the 18-24 age group, which registered only 27 percent support for this view. This population is the one that is most at home with the notion of obtaining information from a desktop computer without the help of the library. Still, as this independent-minded and computer-literate group ages and has children, they may migrate in larger numbers to libraries.

Respondents rank traditional and computer-related services highly. Americans hold in high regard nearly all of the nine current and potential library services tested among those polled. When asked to rank these services, every service received substantial support, whether it was expressed in terms of personal preference or in terms of what public libraries should provide to their community.

Ranked highest were services to children. Eighty-three percent of those queried rated them as "very important." Close behind was purchasing new books, at 72 percent. Maintaining, repairing, and building public library buildings won support from 65 percent of respondents, and providing computers and online services to children and adults who don't have their own computers ranked fourth, with 60 percent judging this service "very important."

Other computer-related services also drew strong popular support. The role of librarians as information navigators was rated as "very important" by 58 percent of respondents, with 85 percent saying that "providing a place where librarians help people find information through computers and online services" was "very important" or "moderately important." A large number of respondents said that enabling people to access library information through their home computers was a worthy goal, with 78 percent rating this function as either "very important" (46 percent) or "moderately important" (32 percent). A total of 70 percent agreed that providing community meeting space was "very important" or "moderately important," but only 34 percent labeled this function as "very important." Setting up computers to access library information at remote locations scored lowest; only 34 percent of respondents agreed this was a very important service.

Of those respondents who ranked each library service as "very important," there were some notable differences among the demographic groups probed. Women ranked such services as children's reading hours, purchasing books, maintaining buildings, and providing computer services to those who lack them, higher than men. For example, 79 percent of women thought it was "very important" for libraries to spend their money on purchasing new books; 65 percent of men shared this view. Men and women polled nearly evenly on two key computer-related services: establishing links from libraries to home computers and purchasing computers and providing online access.

Minorities generally were more interested than whites in spending money on library services, although all groups were highly supportive. For example, while 57 percent of whites thought it was very important for libraries to provide computers and online services to those who lack them, 76 percent of African Americans and 86 percent of Hispanics felt that way. A total of 65 percent of Hispanics and 62 percent of African Americans thought it was "very important" for libraries to allocate funds to allow people to access library information from their home computers. Only 43 percent of whites agreed with this view. Finally, 58 percent of Hispanics thought libraries ought to allocate their financial resources to providing community meeting space; only a third of whites and 39 percent of blacks supported this view.

Age seemed to play a part in determining how much importance a respondent placed on various library services:

Only 49 percent of college-age respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 rated maintaining and building libraries as "very important," as opposed to 67 percent of the 25-34 age group and 70 percent of the 65 and older age group.
Those at the other end of the age spectrum, ages 55 and older, assigned low priority to providing access to library materials through home computers and to purchasing computers and access.
Young adults, those between the ages of 25 and 34, ranked providing access to computer services to those who lack them at 73 percent, far higher than other groups.
Only 30 percent of the 55-64 year-olds thought that providing computer services to information have-nots was very important.

Household income and education were related to the importance Americans placed on building and maintaining library buildings and on providing computer access to those who lack it. As detailed below, lower-income groups supported library building activities substantially more than higher-income groups. Those with less education also voted in favor of the importance of library buildings in greater numbers than more highly educated respondents. Education, more than income, appeared to play a role in the level of support for providing library access to those without computer access.

Libraries may be drawing on decades of good will when the public displays such unequivocal support for their continuing service to communities -- even with the advent of the digital age. The library leaders noted the esteem in which libraries are held. Perhaps this high regard will provide a safe pathway on which libraries can navigate the transition from their traditional book-only role to a book-plus-digital role. Several cautionary notes emerged from these findings, however. Support for library buildings and for providing computer access to those who do not have computer access at home or work, while generally strong, displays weakness in some demographic subgroups.

Americans support digital library collections, access, and services

The survey reveals that while Americans are using computers in substantial numbers at home and at work, they are also heavily patronizing their local library and local bookstore. Americans are divided over whether it is more important for libraries to invest in digital resources as opposed to books and other paper information resources, with both points of view drawing equal numbers of adherents. Yet Americans are willing to spend extra tax dollars and fees on library computer and digital services and books. Finally, the survey reveals that Americans would be willing to have additional tax dollars invested in digital information accessible from a home computer, rather than spend that same amount on a computer product for their own individual use.

There is significant overlap between Americans who use libraries, bookstores, and home computers. One of the survey's most important findings is the high correlation between library use, bookstore patronage, and home computer access.

A total of 44 percent of respondents said they had access to a computer for personal use at home; 37 percent said they had such access at work; 10 percent had school access. Altogether, 81 percent of those queried said they had access to a personal computer either at home or at work. At the same time, 69 percent of the respondents said they went to a public library at least once in the last year. A total of 78 percent of Americans reported that they went to a bookstore in the past year to browse or purchase a book.

The survey reveals that home computer use and library use are highly correlated. People with home computers were more likely to have gone to a public library at least once in the past year (79 percent) than those who lack computers (60 percent). They are also more likely to have gone frequently (52 percent more than five times) than those who do not have computers (30 percent more than five times). Thus, as computer use and ownership spreads, library use may actually swell, rather than decline, as some library leaders have feared.

The survey also reveals a significant correlation between heavy library use, frequent bookstore patronage, and home computer use. Of those Americans who have gone to the library at least once in the past year, 88 percent went to a bookstore at least once. Of those respondents who have not used the library, only 56 percent went to a bookstore.

Of those Americans who own home computers, 79 percent went to the library at least once, 90 percent frequented a bookstore at least once. Those who lack a home computer were far less frequent users of either service. Only 60 percent of those individuals went to the library at least once, while 69 percent went to the bookstore at least once.

People with home computers are also more likely to have gone to a bookstore frequently (57 percent more than five times, 36 percent more than ten times) than those who do not have computers (34 percent more than five times, a fifth more than ten times).

The findings would seem to suggest that though Americans are patronizing bookstores in large numbers -- and using personal computers in growing numbers -- they do not seem to be abandoning libraries. Quite the contrary, the three activities appear to cross-fertilize one another.

Americans are evenly divided over whether libraries in the future should be a place for books or digital information

The public seems to be almost evenly split over which functions should take precedence as libraries move into the future. A third (35 percent) think it will be most important for libraries "to be a place where people can read and borrow books." Another third (37 percent) believe it will be most important for libraries "to be a place where people can use computers to find information and to use online computer services." Only 10 percent felt it would be most important for libraries to provide meeting space and community information. These findings were extremely consistent across all demographic categories.

These results are encouraging for those library leaders who support the concept of a "hybrid" library, because they seem to suggest that there are substantial blocks of public support for both the traditional and digital functions. On the other hand, these findings suggest that library backers who seek political and financial aid will need to bow to the concerns of both camps as library supporters launch public awareness and funding campaigns.

Americans want libraries to provide digital information -- and they are willing to spend tax dollars to make this happen

When survey respondents were asked, if they had a personal computer at home, would they choose to spend $20 a year in taxes to enable the library to have an information service that could be accessed from a home computer, or would they prefer to spend the money to buy disks to install on their home computer, a majority of respondents said they would rather pay for the library-based system. Exactly a third said they would prefer to use their tax dollars to buy their own disks. A majority -- 52 percent -- said they would rather spend those funds to enable the public library "to have an information service that you could access from your home computer." As discussed below, Americans also are willing to be charged extra for library computer and online services above and beyond the taxes they already pay.

Surprisingly, income level played virtually no role in determining support for home- or library-based digital information. There was some differentiation by age, however. The strongest support for buying one's own disks came in the youngest age group, at 47 percent, and declined steadily to 21 percent of those Americans who are 65 and older. Also, individuals in households with children lean toward favoring buying their own disks, with 41 percent of those with children between the ages of 12 and 17 supporting this approach, while only 29 percent of childless individuals favor individual purchase.

Overall, the support for spending tax dollars on library-supplied digital information that can be accessed from home is a positive finding on several scores. First, when pitted against the notion that individual PC users don't need or want libraries as they become more able to navigate online information on their own, the library comes out ahead. Americans would rather have the libraries collect digital resources than purchase them on their own. Second, these findings may help ease some library leaders' concerns that the current antigovernment mood might infect libraries' ability to move forcefully into the digital age. Clearly, Americans see libraries as an important public institution and are willing to pay for them to play an expanded, digital role.

Finally, these findings would seem to suggest that Americans see digital information as a public, rather than private, good and are willing to pay to see this vision realized. It should be noted, however, that respondents were told the library information would be available on their home computer. It would be interesting in future surveys to probe whether this support would hold up if the library's digital collections were available only at library branches.

The survey also revealed that Americans are willing to spend extra tax dollars or pay extra fees for library services, particularly computer access and information. A plurality of Americans -- 43 percent -- favored increasing taxes to cover costs if their local library needed additional funds to continue operation and another 39 percent said they would back charging a fee to people who use the library. These findings are almost identical to those recorded by a 1991 University of Illinois poll (see the box below). And Americans in significant numbers (60 percent) are willing to pay -- in addition to taxes -- extra fees to pay for access to personal computers and online services at the library. Of these, 27 percent would pay $10 a year, 27 percent would pay $25 a year, and 6 percent would pay $50 a year, while 35 percent would be willing to pay nothing.

Americans' endorsement for paying more taxes to libraries may be weaker than it first appears because it is library users who are most behind a tax boost. Nonlibrary users want to pay fees as they need the library -- they are less interested in general public support for the institution. For example, of those who have gone to the library at least once in the last year, 49 percent favored increasing taxes to cover costs, while only a third of nonlibrary users agreed with this approach. The percentages are reversed when it comes to backing fees: 46 percent of nonlibrary users support library charges; only 34 percent of library users would back this type of assessment.

The youngest age group (18-24 year-olds), at 71 percent, was far more willing to pay for these services than the oldest age group (65 and older), at 36 percent. Nearly three-quarters of African Americans (72 percent) said they would pay a fee, while only 58 percent of whites indicated a willingness to do so. Not surprisingly, those with higher incomes and more education were more willing to pay charges than were those with lower incomes -- as were people with children, who at 72 percent were far more willing to pay charges than were childless individuals at 54 percent.

Details of the public opinion survey

In spring 1996 the Benton Foundation commissioned a national survey to test public support for libraries in the digital age. The poll was conducted for Lake Research and the Tarrance Group between April 18 and April 21, 1996, by the Opinion Research Corporation (Princeton, New Jersey). Telephone interviews were conducted by paid, trained, and professionally supervised interviewers using a stratified random-digit replicate sample. A total of 1,015 interviews were completed, and respondents were limited to adults (18 years and older) living in private households in the United States. Interviews were weighted by age, sex, geographic region, and race to ensure that the sample accurately reflects the total population 18 years and older. The maximum margin of error for questions asked of all respondents is ±3.1 percent.

This survey builds on earlier research that is now in the public domain. A primary source is a survey funded by the U.S. Department of Education, conducted by George D'Elia, Associate Professor in the Information and Sciences Department, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, and Eleanor Jo Rodgers, now with the Urban Libraries Council, as well as the University of Minnesota Center for Survey Research and the Gallup Organization. This complex and rich survey set out "to describe for librarians what the public considers to be the important roles of the library in society." The survey compares responses from several populations: a national sample of 1,001 adults, a sample of 401 African Americans, a sample of 846 Caucasian Americans, a sample of 399 Hispanics, and a sample of 300 opinion leaders. Also important to the development of the HRISM survey was a survey conducted for the Library Research Center of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which surveyed 1,181 adults and 390 librarians in 1991 to gauge their interest in and support for a range of library services. Finally, the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut was examined for relevant survey findings.

Families with children are much more likely to have home computers and use libraries

The survey found that families with children are much more likely to have computers at home -- and to use their local public library. Half of all families with children have computers at home. Only 37 percent of childless households have home computers. At the same time, library usage among families with children is also substantial. Fifty percent of such families have gone to their public library more than five times in the past year. This suggests that librarians may want to target this population since it exhibits strong attachments to computers and libraries.

Americans are uncertain about librarians' roles as trainer and navigator for the information superhighway

As noted above, the notion of librarians serving as navigators -- "helping people find information through computers and online services" -- for the information superhighway was ranked high by Americans. A solid majority -- 58 percent -- thought this function was "very important." Altogether 85 percent believed this service was important.

When Americans were asked where they would go to learn more about using computers to find information through the Internet and other online services, however, only 10 percent listed the library. A strong plurality of Americans -- 41 percent -- would ask "somebody they know." All other categories -- buying a book, going to a computer store, reading a magazine, using an online computer service -- ranked in the single digits.

Women and older Americans were more interested than other Americans in taking a class to learn computer skills. A fifth of women and roughly a quarter of older Americans said they would take this route. African Americans and Hispanics were among the least likely (at 32 percent and 24 percent, respectively) to ask somebody they know for assistance. The lowest-income Americans -- those with household incomes less than $15,000 a year -- were also among the least likely -- 32 percent -- to ask a friend or acquaintance for help, while nearly half, or 47 percent, of those with incomes of $50,000 or more were the most likely. This is perhaps because lower-income Americans may have fewer friends or acquaintances who own personal computers than more affluent Americans. Also, nearly a fifth of the lowest-income Americans said they would go to the library to learn computer skills, the highest level among all demographic groups except African Americans. Twenty-four percent of African Americans and 15 percent of Hispanics indicated that they would use the library to learn how to access online information.

This finding may not be as discouraging as it first appears. Librarians may be able to promote themselves effectively, given most Americans' warm feelings toward libraries, as exactly that "somebody you know" -- the person to go to when you need to learn about computer information gathering and access. Also of interest is the fact that minority and lower-income Americans may turn with increasing frequency to libraries to perform a digital information safety net training function.

Americans look to libraries to provide computer services to individuals who don't have their own computers

Indeed, an overwhelming 85 percent of Americans think it is important or moderately important for libraries to "provide computers and online services to children and adults who don't have their own computers." Americans ranked this service fourth, both in terms of their personal preference and its importance to their communities. This may signal broad public support for the notion of the library performing as a safety net for the information have-nots.

Hispanics registered the strongest support of those who said spending library money on providing computer access to information have-nots was personally "very important" to them, while whites registered the least. A total of 57 percent of whites favored this position, 76 percent of African Americans, and 86 percent of Hispanics. When support for this view was framed in terms of how public libraries should spend money in their communities, support among whites stayed the same, but backing among minorities dropped somewhat, to 65 percent of African Americans and 78 percent of Hispanics.

Library buildings score high

Americans value maintaining and building public library buildings. Americans support using library budgets to preserve and erect library buildings, placing this activity third in the poll's rankings of library services they would spend money on. A total of 65 percent felt this was "very important"; an almost identical number, 62 percent, thought this should be a library priority.

Women favored this activity more than men, with 71 percent of women saying they favored supporting library buildings as opposed to only 58 percent of men. Minorities registered very strong support, especially African Americans, 84 percent of whom felt it was very important to spend library money in this way. Support among minorities dropped off for this position somewhat when the question was asked in terms of libraries' priorities. In this case, only 67 percent of African Americans thought it was very important for libraries to expend funds on their buildings.

Clearly, the American public agrees wholeheartedly with the library leaders that the American public library building is an intrinsic part of the library's identity. It is important to note that support for this function comes only after purchasing new books and computers and computer access, and that all three categories polled extremely well among all groups.

Americans are mixed in their support for libraries as community centers

Americans support using libraries for community activities -- but less strongly than they support other library services. A large majority -- 70 percent -- say it is very or moderately important for libraries to serve as neighborhood or community activity centers to provide meeting rooms and auditoriums for community groups and public activities. When asked which locations actually serve in their communities as community activity centers, however, libraries were ranked third at 16 percent, behind schools (32 percent) and community recreation centers (28 percent). Moreover, providing community meeting space was ranked next to last when Americans were asked how they would like their public libraries to spend money, with only 33 percent expressing strong backing for this role.

How important are these library services to you?
Survey participants respond.

	Very	Moderately	Slightly	Not	Don't know
1. Providing reading hours and other programs for children.	83	12	2	3	1
2. Purchasing new books and other printed materials.	72	19	5	3	1
3. Maintaining, repairing, and building public library buildings.	65	25	5	5	1
4. Providing computers and online services to children and adults who don't have their own computers.	60	25	8	6	1
5. Providing a place where librarians help people find information through computers and online services.	58	28	9	5	1
6. Making it possible for people to access library information through their home computers.	46	32	10	8	3
7. Purchasing computers and providing access to information and online services through computers.	42	34	12	9	3
8. Providing meeting rooms and auditoriums for the use of community groups and for public activities.	34	36	17	12	1
9. Setting up computers in public places such as shopping malls and community centers so that people can access library information from these places.	19	28	22	29	2

Summary of focus group findings

The focus group participants -- convened by the Benton Foundation in spring 1996 to further probe these findings -- were all residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC. All eleven white, mixed-gender participants were library users. All but one had at least some college education, and three participants had children in the home. Although these findings should be interpreted with some caution because they represent the views of only one group of Americans, they do signal some potential trouble spots for libraries. After all, if these sophisticated library users raise doubts about libraries, then what support can we expect from less-experienced users?

In many broad respects, these Americans share many of the visions articulated by library leaders. Americans generally see public libraries as playing an important role in their communities. Libraries provide free and equal access to information to all members of the community, including the information have-nots, said these Americans. As one participant put it, "I think as we are seeing the population . . . stratifying along class lines in a huge way . . . the library is one of those symbolic things that is left, that is a cornerstone of 'we all do this for everyone' so that everyone can use it."
These Americans also have adopted the concept of the library as a hybrid institution, containing both books and technology. Libraries were seen as a particularly vital resource for children; indeed, Americans see children as central to libraries' primary mission. Another highly touted service was the ability to find hard-to-locate resources at the local library, particularly local master plans and other government documents. One participant mentioned his difficulty in locating an industrial handbook. After a futile search on the Internet, he found it at his local library. Others valued the library for providing a plethora of community resources, such as zoning master plans and other government documents.
But along with these positive responses to libraries, these Americans also mentioned several pitfalls that they had encountered in their attempts to use library services. They applauded libraries' free and equal access policies. But, said several participants, the materials on hand -- especially works of fiction -- may not be those people are seeking. "[I]f it's hot, it's not [available]," proclaimed one participant, adding: "If you want to get the book that everybody is reading right now, it is just not in." Others suggested that bookstores were the place to go for popular books and even some reference works. One older participant, who claimed to check out a half dozen books from his local library every other week, said, "We don't . . . read the latest books. We don't get those at the library. We get those at Borders or Crown Books. . . . "
Also mentioned as an impediment was the library's "mind boggling" resources, as one participant put it, which she found impossible to navigate on her own. As for asking for assistance: "I always seem to be waiting in line forever," she said. Others mentioned libraries' restricted hours, especially on holidays and weekends, as obstacles to greater and easier use.
And in many other important ways, these Americans placed libraries at the margins of their day-to-day lives, especially regarding the technological revolution. When asked, for example, if libraries are more or less important than they used to be, participants' responses were equivocal. Many cited the growing trend in which individuals retrieve information from their desktop computers at home and saw the library reduced to the role of a place where isolated people, chained to their desktops, could escape "to find other people." So, they said, libraries would perform a social role: "I think [libraries] will stay around . . . because people would then . . . go out where they can find other people," concluded one participant when asked whether libraries would continue to be as important as they are now.
Most telling, participants said libraries should not take the lead in providing services in the digital age. In fact, they thought libraries should take a reactive role, adapting to, rather than pioneering, new technologies. Libraries "should stay just behind the curve. We don't need them to be on the curve because most people aren't," as one participant put it. Indeed, in a world of tight budgetary restraints, these Americans did not want to invest in libraries as technology leaders.
The "behind the curve" metaphor permeated these Americans' views of libraries in other significant ways. When asked to ponder the role of libraries in the future, they placed libraries firmly in the past. In 30 years, they said, libraries would be relegated to a "kind of museum where people can go and look up stuff from way back when." Thus the library of the future, far from being a technology leader, would function as an information archive. As one participant summed up this view, "If you plopped a library down . . . 30 years from now . . . there would be cobwebs growing everywhere because people would look at it and wouldn't think of it as a legitimate institution because it would be so far behind. . . . "
Focus group participants presented an equally diminished view of the future role of librarians. They acknowledged that librarians could perform a useful role as navigators in the as-yet difficult-to-navigate universe of the Internet. Yet these Americans in the next breath recommended that trained library professionals be replaced with community volunteers, such as retirees, who would be dispatched to serve cappuccino as well as perform more traditional library services. For this particular group of Americans, "librarians as trained professionals" was a nebulous concept at best. "In the business that I'm in," said one, "I find people in their fifties and sixties that were in prominent positions. . . . Many of those people will wind up in libraries because they will . . . want to feel useful. Maybe that is the avenue that the libraries [should take]; they should start recruiting for librarians [among] those people."
These Americans ranked bookstores as genuine competitors to public libraries. They saw these superstores, in fact, as models that libraries should strive to emulate. To revitalize libraries, several participants recommended a Borders-style approach, with coffee shops and music. "It is a social event," commented one participant about a trip the super bookstore. "Make it more welcoming," was her advice to library leaders as one path to the future.
These library users were also well aware that the library must compete for tax dollars with other community resources in order to provide the "free" information resources they so highly valued. "It's not free. We pay for it," commented one participant. "The only way that libraries are going to be able to keep up with getting the newest books, the newest technology . . . it takes money." "If somebody is not paying for it somewhere, it is not going to happen," said another participant. Notably, these library users were not willing to sustain a tax increase in order to support library services. One participant recommended turning the library into a charitable institution as an alternative to tax levies. "Maybe the way to save the library system . . . is to allow people that want to contribute to the library to get a tax deduction."
Most telling, these library users retained a fuzzy image of the recent history of their local community library. The only time any one of them could recall libraries having been in the news was when the local libraries were threatened with closing.

Admittedly, these focus group findings should be understood as one group of citizens' responses to a set of directed topics. More research is needed if we are to understand the feelings behind the survey data, and the ambivalence just below the surface of the forced-choice options that surveys measure. In fact, the survey foreshadows some of the more pessimistic focus group comments, when segmented by types of users. Research is especially needed with various target groups, such as younger adults and men.

But the single focus group proved a useful counterpoint to the optimism of the aggregate survey data, revealing areas of public confusion and restraint that the survey data mask. And, for library leaders eager to cling to the reassuring notes of the survey results, the focus group revealed how quickly public support can erode when arguments are leveled by even a friendly opposition. While it would be a gross misinterpretation to derive American public opinion about libraries from one participant's quotable "just behind the curve" metaphor, the language and the tone of this discussion among a group of sophisticated library users should nevertheless make library leaders cautious about what happens when citizens are left in an information vacuum to reason through the library's role in a digital future. If the library is indeed "invisible," as some library leaders admit, then its story and mission are vulnerable to new, more assertive arguments and advertising that substitute other institutions as information navigators.

Earlier survey research reveals strong public backing for public libraries

The 1996 survey confirms in many respects earlier surveys of public attitudes about libraries. But it also expands this earlier body of work. The following key points are offered as context on issues most germane to the 1996 survey and the vision statements of the library leaders.

Computer access and library use: the future is now

As early as 1991, two in five Americans (40 percent) said they had used a personal computer. Only 29 percent indicated that they had a personal computer at home (University of Illinois 1991).

More than two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) said they had used library services in the past year, with a little more than half (52 percent) saying they had used library services at least one to four times a year (University of Illinois 1991).

More than half of adult Americans (54 percent) took their child to the library at least once or twice a month (National Parent Teachers Association/Newsweek, February 1993).

One in seven Americans (14 percent) are hard-core library users who say they borrowed something in the last seven days from the public library (Barna Research Groups, January 1994).

More than half the adult public (56 percent) is already using a computer at the library to find what they are looking for (U.S. News & World Report/Gallup, October 1995).

About two-thirds of the adult public (65 percent) said their library had its books and materials listed in both a computer and card catalog (U.S. News & World Report/Gallup, October 1995).

More than half the adult public (52 percent) said they had used a computer to search for information at their library (U.S. News & World Report/Gallup, October 1995).

In 1993 three-fourths of adults (77 percent) said they would be extremely or somewhat interested in retrieving books and articles or doing library research over interactive TV (Wirthlin Quorom, November 1993).

Roles of the library

The most important roles of the public library for the general public were to support the educational aspirations of the community and to provide access to information, outranking eight other missions that were offered to respondents. A total of 88 percent ranked as "very important" the library role as educational support center for students of all ages, the top choice (Urban Libraries Council 1992).

Opinion leaders also ranked this function first in importance with an identical number -- 88 percent -- favoring this role (Urban Libraries Council 1992).

The public clearly sees a role for libraries in the digital future. A 1995 survey asked people to choose between the following statements: "Some people think libraries will no longer exist in the future because of all the information available through computers. Other people think libraries will still be needed despite all the advancements of computers." Only 9 percent said they thought that libraries would no longer be needed; an overwhelming 91 percent believed that libraries would still be needed (U.S. News & World Report/Gallup, October 1995).

The library and the community

Only one in five Americans (21 percent) said they had attended a library program like a story hour, lecture, or movie (University of Illinois 1991).

Only 17 percent of adult Americans said they had visited the library in the past year to hear a speaker, see a movie, or attend a special program (U.S. News & World Report/Gallup, October 1995).

Popular and opinion leader support for libraries serving as community activities centers was weak. Among ten possible roles for the library, this ranked last for the general public (41 percent agreeing) and eighth among opinion leaders (46 percent agreeing) (Urban Libraries Council 1992).

Paying for libraries and liking what you pay for

The public was evenly split on how to pay for library services in hard times. A strong plurality of the public (44 percent) favored increasing taxes, while 41 percent favored charging people fees for use of library materials if their local library needed additional funds to continue to operate (University of Illinois 1991).

An overwhelming majority (87 percent) of heads of households indicated they were satisfied with their local public libraries (Family Circle Magazine, June 1993).

Eight in ten Americans (81 percent) said that libraries in their area served the needs of people either very well or pretty well (Barna Research Group, July 1993).

Continue to Chapter 3

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Published by Benton Foundation Funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation