Transcript ALA PRESENTS: What can libraries learn from new user (and non-user!) e-reading data from the Pew Internet Project? Library 2.012 October 4, 2012 Larra Clark, Program Director American.

ALA PRESENTS:
What can libraries learn from
new user (and non-user!)
e-reading data from the Pew
Internet Project?
Library 2.012
October 4, 2012
Larra Clark, Program Director
American Library Association
Kathryn Zickuhr, Research Analyst
Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
Larra Clark
Office for Information Technology Policy
Director, Program on Networks
Assoc. Director, Program on America's
Libraries for the 21st Century
American Library Association
[email protected]
Kathryn Zickuhr
Research Analyst
Pew Research Center’s
Internet & American Life Project
[email protected]
@kzickuhr
@pewinternet
@pewresearch
About Pew Internet
• Part of the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan “fact
tank” in Washington, DC
• Studies how people use digital technologies
• Does not promote specific technologies or make policy
recommendations
• Data for this talk is from nationally representative
telephone surveys (on landlines & cell phones) of
Americans ages 16 & older; quotes are from online panels
All slides and reports are available at
pewinternet.org
About our libraries research
• Goal: To study the changing role of public
libraries and library users in the digital age
• Funded by a three-year, $1.4 million grant
from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
libraries.pewinternet.org
Americans’
reading habits
and the rise of
e-reading
Why Americans read
% in each age group who read any type of material (including books,
magazines, journals, newspapers, & online content) for the following reasons
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
Book reading by age group
% of each age group who have read a book (including print books, e-books,
and audiobooks) in whole or in part in the past 12 months
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
The rise of e-reading
One in five adults has read an e-book in the past year
Note: Due to multiple responses, categories do not add up to 100%
The book format used by readers on
any given day is changing
% of adult book readers (age 18+) using this format on an average day,
as of June 2010 and December 2011
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
Who reads e-books?
E-book readers are more likely than
other readers to be:
• Under age 50
• College educated
• Living in households earning $50K+
Other key characteristics:
• They read more books, more often
• More likely to buy their books than borrow
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
How e-readers read their e-books
Among all Americans in each age group who read an e-book in the
past 12 months, as of December 2011
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
Which is better for these purposes, a printed
book or an e-book?
Among people ages 16+ who read both an e-book & a print book in the past year
E-books at
libraries
Library users by age group
Among each group of Americans ages 16+, the percentage who have used
the library in the past year
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
How Americans used the library
in the past year
Among Americans ages 16+ who used the library for the following purposes in
the past year
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
12% of e-book readers
borrow e-books from
the library
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
When you want to read a particular
e-book, where do you look first?
Among all people ages 16+ who read an e-book in the past year
When you want to read a particular
e-book, where do you look first?
Among people who borrowed an e-book from the library in the past year
n=111
Have you ever wanted to borrow a particular
e-book from the library and found that...
Among e-book borrowers
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
62% of all Americans ages
16 and older, including 58%
of library card holders, say
they do not know if their
library lends e-books.
What is the main reason you do not borrow
e-books from your public library?
Among e-book readers who do not get e-books at the public library
Reason
% of e-book readers who
do not get e-books at the
public library
Inconvenient / easier to get another way
Didn’t know I could / didn’t know library offered e-books
Don’t use library / no library nearby
22%
19
8
No interest / no real need
Just found out about it / haven’t had a chance to try it yet
E-books still new to me / no time to learn
7
6
5
Just never thought to
Don’t read a lot / don’t use e-reader much
Prefer to own my own copy
5
4
4
My library doesn’t offer e-books
Prefer print books
Poor e-book selection at library
4
3
2
Do not have format I need
Cumbersome process / wait list / short borrowing period
Other
2
2
6
Among those who do not currently borrow e-books
from libraries, the % who say they would be likely to…
All three ideas are
most popular with:
African-Americans and
Hispanics
Those under age 65
Those in households
making less than $30k
per year
Those who had not
completed high school
Parents of minor children
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
Younger Americans (16-29)
83% read a book in the past year
19% read an e-book in the past year.
They read their e-books on:
•
•
•
•
Computers (55%)
Cell phones (41%)
E-book readers (23%)
Tablets (16%)
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
Younger Americans (16-29)
60% used the library in the past year
10% of e-book readers borrowed an
e-book from the library in the past
year
58% of non-e-book borrowers would
be interested in pre-loaded e-readers
Source: Pew Internet December 2011 survey.
libraries.pewinternet.org
What these
changes
[could] mean
for libraries
“Our customers are still using
the library but in different ways.
They browse our catalog online,
place reserves on the items they
want, then pick them up at their
location of choice. Many fewer
browse the collection in person,”
– Library staff member
“We spend a significant part of
our day explaining how to get
library books onto e-book
readers.”
– Library staff member
“It all feels pretty murky. Some
clarity and good advice would
be nice. It’s OK for libraries with
big budgets to plunge into ebook readers. As a small library
with limited collection funds, we
have to be more careful.”
– Library staff member
Connecting the (E-)Dots
•
•
•
•
•
•
Negotiation and aggregation
Discovery
Lifelong learning and tech support
Content creation and digitization
Promotion
Advocacy
“Our library is a critical
link in our community.
It provides access to
books, computers,
[and] knowledge, and is
a critical social center.”
– E-book-borrowing patron
Thank you!
Larra Clark, Program Director
American Library Association
Kathryn Zickuhr, Research Analyst
Pew Internet & American Life Project
All data, slides, and reports available at
pewinternet.org