[PL-Directors] Gallop poll on library visits

[Ross Fuqua]

Hello library folks,

Gallop just released some findings today from a recent poll of U.S. adults' common leisure activities<https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-trips-movies-2019.aspx>, and it puts libraries at the top of a list of cultural activities that participants were asked about. We're more popular than going to a movie these days which is, of course, great! Their brief report breaks down responses by age, gender, region, household income, and whether they are living with children under 18. No big surprises here, although respondents without children reported a slightly higher library visit rate which seems a bit odd to me....

Anyway, when I saw how low their median response was, I dug a bit deeper into their methodology and complete responses (there's a PDF at the bottom of the webpage - or download it here<https://news.gallup.com/file/poll/284015/200123LeisureActivities.pdf>) and I'd suggest anyone who's interested to take a look, too. What jumped out at me was the following response percentage breakdown (see 3 of the PDF). When asked "How many times in the past year, if any, did you...visit a library?":


*        38% answered none

*        9% answered once

*        10% answered twice

*        12% answered 3-5 times

*        5% answered 6-9 times

*        26% answered 10 or more times

This I think confirms what many of us know already - that we have strong usage from our "uber patrons," but that there are significant parts of our communities that we aren't reaching. There is also another usage trend to be considered, which this poll doesn't capture: the rise of the "virtual patron" (i.e., the folks who are strong users of e-content, but don't have a need to physically visit their library).

There is some interesting social demographic info that Gallop shares from the poll on the last page (page 5) of the supplementary PDF that might be of interest as well.

Happy Friday!

Ross Fuqua
Data & Federal Programs Consultant
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