Report: Last Bastion of the Bookworm Becomes Internet Hub

Story in the NYT

Nearly 15 years ago, libraries were still primarily a place to go check out the printed, bound word. Only 28 percent offered Internet access, whereas today, almost all public libraries offer access and are helping to bridge the digital divide, according to a report by the University of Washington on Internet use in libraries across the country.

According to the report, “the wiring of public libraries has transformed one of the nation’s most established community resources into a critical digital hub”.

Every year, 169 million people visit their local public library and 45 percent of them access the Internet, according to the report. The report, which focuses its numbers of people 14-years old and older, is based on nearly 50,000 surveys from patrons of more than 400 public libraries across the country.

As Seth Godin pointed out last January, libraries “can’t survive as community-funded repositories for books that individuals don’t want to own” and that the “number one thing they deliver to their patrons is free DVD rentals.”

Full article here