Barriers to Young Adult Patronage of Public Libraries: A Survey of NJ Librarians

Statement of the Problem Young adults constituted the lowest % of public library users – 23% (NCES, 1995) “ By the year 2010 there will be more teenagers in the country than ever before ” (Jones, 2002) Young adults are “ the least enthusiastic of any age group about the importance of libraries in a digital future ” (Benton Foundation, 1996) In order to cultivate lifelong readers and supporters of public libraries, we must begin to respond in a more effective way now to the needs of young adults.

Purpose of Research Investigate how public librarians in New Jersey have responded to the barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries

Research Questions Which barriers to young adult patronage presented the most difficulty to New Jersey young adult librarians? What have young adult librarians in New Jersey done to overcome these barriers?

Related Literature 1995 National Center for Educational Statistics Surveyed 890 public libraries Identified several key external and internal barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries Competition from other young adult activities Lack of interest Lack of knowledge Insufficient services, resources, and programs Insufficient staff Insufficient hours of operation

Related Literature Continued: 1998 Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development Initiative Interviewed young adults in 10 public libraries about their opinions of the public library Lack of service – librarians are neither helpful nor friendly and do not even seem to like teens Limited access to technology Lack of space for studying and socializing Lack of resources – older reference materials and only one copy of a popular book

Related Literature Continued: 1999 Behavior of Librarians in School and Public Libraries with Adolescents: Implications for Practice and LIS Education Adolescents expressed more unanimous frustration over being ignored, marginalized, restricted, treated with discourtesy, regarded as stupid, or tricked outright than did the adults. Both point out that being adolescent brings on stereotypic expectations by adults of being stupid or of being trouble, except possibly where service staff are young themselves or “ think young. ” From the perspective of the adolescents specifically, being a teenager is to be stereotyped and categorized as part of a group that is underestimated, suspect, watched, restricted, or ignored. Personal appearance is “ read ” negatively by adults through adolescents ’ clothing or style, and seems to trigger stereotypic expectations (Chelton, 1999).

Design of Research Project Posted an invitational e – mail on the NJYAC listserv in February, 2005 NJYAC would reach the largest number of New Jersey public librarians serving young adults Listserv had approximately 500 members as of October, 2004 E – mail contained a URL to an online survey that was created and stored in SurveyMonkey.com (

Variables Dependent – public library staff perceptions of young adult patronage of public libraries Independent – public library staff perceptions of the barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries

Data Collection 77 respondents or 16% response rate Data was compiled and summarized using the “ analyze ” function in SurveyMonkey.com Microsoft Excel was used to create figures and tables

Findings – Internal Barriers Lack of resources 82% of respondents disagreed that the quality of their library ’ s YA collection was a barrier Lack of service 78% of respondents disagreed that lack of service was a barrier Lack of space 58% of respondents agreed that lack of space remained a barrier

Findings - Internal Barriers Continued: Limited access to technology 36% of respondents disagreed that this was still a barrier 36% felt that lack of computers specifically for YAs was a barrier 19% - limited software 19% - long waiting periods to use computers 16% - older computers were a problem 2% - restrictions on YA use of computers 2% - not enough computers was a barrier

Findings Continued – External Barriers Most significant external barrier to YA patronage of public libraries: 38% of respondents - competition from other YA activities 21% of respondents - lack of interest 18% of respondents - lack of transportation 23% of respondents listed lack of knowledge as the second most significant barrier

Conclusions External barriers identified in the 1995 NCES study and the 1999 Partners study still considered to be significant Internal barriers identified in both studies are no longer considered to be significant, with the exception of lack of space

Conclusions Continued: For each barrier, respondents were asked to indicate what steps they had taken to overcome that barrier None of the respondents indicated any steps that had been taken, only steps that they were planning or would like to take

Recommendations for Future Research Further study, involving a larger sample, on the opinions and suggestions of librarians serving young adults and facing these barriers Interviews or focus groups with full – time young adult librarians discussing and possibly drafting steps needed to overcome the barriers Emphasis on results, not planning A longitudinal case study of a public library that addressed and overcame barriers Updating the 1995 NCES study and the 1999 Partners study Further studies encompassing young adult opinions and suggestions

Works Cited Benton Foundation. (1996). Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age. Washington, DC: Benton Foundation. Retrieved November 5, 2003, from Chelton, M. K. (1999, Spring). Behavior of librarians in school and public libraries with adolescents: Implications for practice and LIS education [Electronic version]. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 40(2), 99 – 111. Heaviside, S., Farris, E., Dunn, C., Fry, R., & Carpenter, J. (1995). Services and resources for children and young adults in public libraries. Statistical analysis report (Report No. NCES ). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED ).

Presentation by: Deborah Swierk In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Master ’ s Degree in Public Librarianship Rowan University May, 2005