US Impact Study - National Research on the Benefits from Internet Access at Public Libraries

The University of Washington Information School recently released findings from the US IMPACT Public Library Study. This was a large-scale national study, funded by IMLS and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, looking at internet use at public libraries.

The data was gathered from an impressive scale of telephone surveys, online surveys via public library computers and case studies/interviews at a few libraries.

The report lays out broad use statistics and demographics, but combines this with insightful and detailed analysis. It's a thought-provoking read (though time-consuming, unless you opt for the executive summary).

I'm a little wary of some of their findings since part of their data comes from people who are already library computer users (the online survey). Evaluation-speak, this is selecting on the dependent variable, which could introduce bias into the results. They did have a substantial sample from the random phone surveys and it looks like they did some creative mathematical weighting to combine the phone and web samples to reduce bias as much as possible. But it's something to keep in mind.

A few findings I found particularly interesting.

Almost 1/3 of Americans used their public library for internet access.


While there is higher use of library internet connections among people in households living below the poverty line (44%, higher for young adults and seniors), "people of all ages, incomes, races, and levels of education go to the library for Internet access, whether they have a connection at home or not". Libraries are still great agents of democracy - computer access is for everyone, used by everyone.


Internet access = young adult access. Young adults (14-18 year olds) are high library computer users. What a great initial step for libraries to involve this traditionally hard-to-reach group.

Patrons rely on library computers to take care of the everyday routine tasks as well as to take life-changes steps.

Library computer access differs from other options for computers and wireless (cafes, etc) because it is truly free (no feeling obligated to buy a drink first), it offers a quiet space for work, and it comes with staff to help navigate all ranges of computer and technology issues.

Library internet users can be segmented into 3 groups. Power users, who use the library as their sole access point and come almost daily. Supplemental users, who use the library internet routinely but have other internet options. Occasional users who use the library interest in an emergency, during a time of transition, or to do the quick occasional task.

Low income patrons are less likely to use library internet access overall, but if they do use it, they are more likely to be very frequent users. Same for 19-24 year olds. Youth 14-18 are the most likely user group of library internet and are also very frequent users.