From the napkin industry to Buffalo Wild Wings, it seems as though millennials take the blame for the failure of a new industry every day. However, a new study released by Pew Research center has found that millennials are the most likely out of every American generation to use the services of a public library.
The survey showed that in 2016, 53% of 18-35 year olds said they had visited a library in the past year, with Gen Xers trailing behind at 45%. If it comes as a shock to you that libraries are being populated with more millennials than grandparents, you’re not alone. The reasoning? Public libraries are not like they used to be.
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Millennials thrive off technology and pride themselves on being thrifty. For this reason, it should not come as a surprise that millennials are flocking to public libraries.
Libraries are a host to computers for research, books to check out, and now, interactive and fun community events. When looking at what millennials are spending their time on, it only makes sense that they are the ones populating libraries.
Despite millennial usage of this public service, this trend may come to a halt. One controversial aspect of President Trump’s budget proposal vows to cut funding to public libraries.
Describing the proposed elimination of federal funds to public libraries as “counterproductive” and “short sighted,” the American Library Association did not take President Trump’s budget cuts lightly. The group released an official statement regarding the cuts on March 16, shortly after the proposed budget was unveiled.
Hillary Clinton echoed these comments when she addressed the American Library Association Convention on Tuesday. Not missing an opportunity to take a jab at her former opponent, Clinton claimed that cuts to the arts would result in a “disproportionate, adverse impact on rural and under-served communities.”
Despite their popularity among millennials and the current uproar surrounding Trump’s proposed cuts to the arts, it is not the first time the libraries have faced possible funding cuts.
Former President Barack Obama’s 2017 fiscal budget involved budget cuts to state grants for libraries. This invoked a response from the American Library Association similar to their statement directed at the Trump administration.
Speaking on behalf of librarians across the country, President Feldman of the ALA expressed his disdain for the budget cuts as he said, “we are truly disappointed that the President’s budget does not recognize the value libraries bring to our country”.
Even though Trump’s budget proposal is not the first time libraries have suffered a hard hit, this is a time, however, where millennials have a higher stake in the fate of public libraries. Despite this, it is interesting to note the lack of activism from millennials with respect to the funding of public libraries, the generation that will suffer the most from the cuts, according to the Pew Study.
The fate of public libraries and their funding is unclear, but one thing is certain – millennials cannot be blamed for this one.
