Finally, those who own e-book readers and smartphones are more likely than others to say they hardly ever or never get help from librarians.
Asked how helpful library staffers are in general, 81% of those who had visited a library in the past 12 months say librarians are “very helpful,” 17% say “somewhat helpful,” 1% say “not too helpful” and another 1% say “not at all helpful.” There are no notable demographic differences in respondents’ answers to this question.
In our focus groups, many people reported having only positive impressions of libraries and librarians, especially if they had positive experiences growing up. One focus group member said:
“When I was younger, there was one librarian in particular, she remembered my name and every time I would come in with my mom I would take out stacks and stacks of books . . . I started getting really into reading more because of her and she would [compliment] me about how much I was reading, and it was like a challenge to me. How much can I read? How much can I read in this week so I can come back the next week and get more books. So for me, it was a very positive environment as a child.”
However, some participants, including some who mentioned that their libraries have experienced cutbacks recently, said that library staff were very busy, and weren’t able to give them the individual attention they remembered and valued from their childhood. One participant said that it seemed like there were so many programs going on, the librarians could seem too busy to just help people find books. At the same time, impressions and library experiences often varied in different areas even within the same city.
A few focus group members said that they often feel intimidated when visiting some library branches. These focus groups members said they weren’t very familiar with the Dewey Decimal system, which made it hard to find what they were looking for even if they were told the call number or pointed in the general direction; some said that library staff members they interacted with would become “frustrated” with them for not understanding such a basic concept:
“I live by our library, close by, walking distance. I got intimated by trying to find the books. It was like they say ‘it’s number-number-number and letter,’ like 100-EB or whatever it is. I’d be like, ‘What?’ [Laughter] . . . Now I have more fun [reserving books] online and waiting for it to show up and enjoying that. But when I went by myself
Finally, those who own e-book readers and smartphones are more likely than others to say they hardly ever or never get help from librarians.Asked how helpful library staffers are in general, 81% of those who had visited a library in the past 12 months say librarians are “very helpful,” 17% say “somewhat helpful,” 1% say “not too helpful” and another 1% say “not at all helpful.” There are no notable demographic differences in respondents’ answers to this question.In our focus groups, many people reported having only positive impressions of libraries and librarians, especially if they had positive experiences growing up. One focus group member said:“When I was younger, there was one librarian in particular, she remembered my name and every time I would come in with my mom I would take out stacks and stacks of books . . . I started getting really into reading more because of her and she would [compliment] me about how much I was reading, and it was like a challenge to me. How much can I read? How much can I read in this week so I can come back the next week and get more books. So for me, it was a very positive environment as a child.”However, some participants, including some who mentioned that their libraries have experienced cutbacks recently, said that library staff were very busy, and weren’t able to give them the individual attention they remembered and valued from their childhood. One participant said that it seemed like there were so many programs going on, the librarians could seem too busy to just help people find books. At the same time, impressions and library experiences often varied in different areas even within the same city.A few focus group members said that they often feel intimidated when visiting some library branches. These focus groups members said they weren’t very familiar with the Dewey Decimal system, which made it hard to find what they were looking for even if they were told the call number or pointed in the general direction; some said that library staff members they interacted with would become “frustrated” with them for not understanding such a basic concept:“I live by our library, close by, walking distance. I got intimated by trying to find the books. It was like they say ‘it’s number-number-number and letter,’ like 100-EB or whatever it is. I’d be like, ‘What?’ [Laughter] . . . Now I have more fun [reserving books] online and waiting for it to show up and enjoying that. But when I went by myself
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