A New Poll Suggests That Americans Are More Interested In Reading Books In Libraries Than Going To Theaters

With the advent of the internet and with the advancement in video streaming services, we are all slowly moving away from books. Or so it seems. You will often hear adults complain that children nowadays do not read as many books as they did before. Now, all of it might seem like some kind of a generational gap, but if you really look around yourself, you might find it to be all too true. Yes, people seem to be reading less in general. On public transport or in your school, most children are glued to their phone screens. So, is reading books a bygone art lost forever in the modern world?

It seems impossible that reading books will just stop all of a sudden. At least, for bibliophiles, this sort of a future would seem to be something taken from a dystopian novel. But if you love reading books, do not worry so much. The glitz and glamour of Netflix and Hollywood have not taken away the reading genes from your fellow mates. A recent Gallup poll brings back hope to all of us. It is a poll that was done after 2 decades and it shows that Americans are visiting libraries more than any other cultural institution. The polls were taken in 2019.

According to the poll, library visits went above any recreational activity and the adults of the USA reported taking around 10.5 trips per year to the library. If you compare that to the 5 yearly trips made to the theater, 5 to sports, 5 to theaters and musicals, and 2.5 to the museum, you can really see how popular the library visits are. 

The poll suggests that the numbers presented are similar to the one that was collected back in 2001. If we consider that data and compare it with this one, you can see that museum visits have gone slightly up by 0.7 visits, national parks by 1.3 visits, musicals and theaters by 1.1 visits. There has been a 1.3 decrease in visits to the movie theatre surprisingly.

As usual, low-income groups tend to visit public libraries more often than high-income books, which is quite natural since library services are mostly free. Women seem to visit the library twice more frequently than men did, going for about 13.4 visits against the 7.5 visits of the male counterpart. 

According to the author of the poll, Justin McCarthy, “Despite the proliferation of digital-based activities over the past two decades—including digital books, podcasts, streaming entertainment services and advanced gaming—libraries have endured as a place Americans visit nearly monthly on average. Whether because they offer services like free Wi-Fi, movie rentals, or activities for children, libraries are most utilized by young adults, women, and residents of low-income households.”

You can call it a win against the technologically-saturated times that we live today. Reading books has not gone obsolete, not yet at least.

With the advent of the internet and with the advancement in video streaming services, we are all slowly moving away from books. Or so it seems. You will often hear adults complain that children nowadays do not read as many books as they did before. Now, all of it might seem like some kind of…