THE LIBRARY IS EXPERIENCING a renaissance. It’s
no wonder, really, since the institution may represent
the original example of the now flourishing sharing
economy. In the US alone, 44.8 million adults used
online sharing-economy services such as Airbnb and
Uber in 2016, a figure that’s expected to nearly double by- Millennials are the biggest growth drivers in this
area – hardly shocking, since they’re the first genera-
tion of digital natives. Somewhat surprising, though, is
that despite concerns that the emergence of e-books
and other digital media would render physical libraries
redundant, millennials are outnumbering other demo-
graphics when it comes to library usage. Analysis of new
Pew Research Center data on US library attendance, for
example, found that over half of survey respondents
aged 18 to 35 had visited a public library or book mobile
within the previous year.
The movement seems at odds with data published
by USA Today. The daily referenced a 2012 study that
found millennials to be ‘more civically and politically
disengaged, more focused on materialistic values, and
less concerned about helping the larger community than
were GenX (born 1962-1981) and Baby Boomers (born
1946 to about 1961) at the same ages’. But this was seven
years ago, and the last three-quarters of a decade has
seen a growing concern for the environment and the
need to use fewer natural resources, thus adding to the
sharing economy’s appeal. Some authors are promoting
the cause: waste-free advocate Sarah Wilson, for instance,
donated a stack of her recent book on anxiety to Austral-
ian libraries, encouraging readers to lend, not buy.
Even if they’re (reportedly) not community-
driven by nature, millennials have other reasons to
visit a book repository. According to Pew Research
Center, it’s an age bracket more burdened by financial
hardships than previous generations. What’s more, about
88 per cent of millennials currently live in metropolitan
areas, where space is at a premium. Perhaps the lack
of complementary large open spaces for gathering and
socializing, particularly during winter in cooler parts
of the world, is part of the reason that today’s libraries
are beginning to resemble civic squares. ‘Younger
adults may... be more likely to live in small or shared
spaces they long to escape,’ writes Ephrat Livni in »
Far from being
relics from the age
of tangible media,
libraries are fast
becoming a key tool
for creating a sense
of community.
Words
TRACEY INGRAMOODI CENTRAL LIBRARY,
HELSINKI
The architects at ALA call their design of Helsinki’s Oodi
Central Library ‘an indoor extension of public space’.
Besides books, the ‘civic living room’ offers a movie
theatre, recording studios, maker space, exhibitions and
community events.
ala.fi
FRAME LAB 133