What do the public want from libraries? Summary report of quantitative research
What do the public want from libraries? Summary report of quantitative research
By
Ipsos MORI
This quantitative research fed into the full report 'What do the public want from libraries?'
It provides an analysis of the findings from a telephone survey of 1,102 people aged 18+ in England. Key questions asked were around:
- Frequency of library use
- Personal definition of library use
- Motivations for using library services
- Reasons for not using library services
- Reasons for satisfaction with library services
- What would encourage more visits
The way people define their usership of libraries is fairly complex, and does not necessarily reflect their frequency of library use. For example, the survey results show that while respondents who use libraries at least monthly are generally likely to define themselves as current users, there is more of a mixed picture when it comes to less frequent use – three in ten (30%) who have used libraries over a month ago but within the last six months consider themselves to be lapsed users, while six in ten (63%) perceive themselves to be current users. Conversely, for those using libraries over six months ago but within the last year, around half (54%) consider
themselves to be lapsed users, but one in three still regard themselves as current users (32%). Similarly, although they do not consider themselves users, the great majority of people who would define themselves as a non-user actually appear to have had
some contact with public libraries in the past.
