Gen Z and Millennials to Libraries’ Rescue
According to a recent study released by the ALA (American Library Association), 54 percent of those surveyed in the Millennial and Gen Z cohorts responded that they had visited a library in the past year. Woohoo, great.
But I hate that this is so newsworthy that even Southern Living decided to report on it.
First, I think the media needs to start shedding this whole “surprised-by-Millennials” trope because, newsflash, Millennials can be in their early 40s. Let’s move on.
Second, as the parent of two members of Gen Z, it does not surprise me in the least that teenagers/young adults have visited a library recently. They like to read (BookTok, anyone?), they study in libraries (the ones at my kids’ schools are fantastic and regularly used by them and their peers, but I admit that “cool,” i.e. well-resourced, school libraries is not necessarily the case everywhere), and at least from what I’m seeing, the older end of Gen Z’ers are really *trying* to be cost-conscious. For these “screenagers” (this term is way cringy to Gen Z’ers by the way), the digital resources at libraries are tremendous and accessible. (That said, it’s not unusual for them to prefer paper…I know that my daughter does.)
I totally get that the ALA probably feels the need to institute a proactive publicity campaign and that conducting surveys like this is important marketing work for any type of organization. I mean…I’ve subscribed to “library, libraries” Google alerts for years and the types of articles that land in my inbox have changed dramatically in the last few years, so it totally makes sense.
However, if this news about libraries being used by young people surprises you, I wonder: When is the last time *you* have utilized a library?
originally published on instagram