For decades, scholars and planners alike have been deeply interested in figuring out how to create third spaces — the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work — which both promote social capital and anchor communities. New data from a recent national survey on community satisfaction show that the sort of institutions which develop into preferred third places are generally places of food and drink and local parks. Libraries, community centers, and other such projects popular with politicians and planners are not salient despite being regularly lauded by many in the academy and press as core social and communal institutions.
Despite my deep appreciation for libraries, I recently found in the data that libraries are not functioning as central pieces of social infrastructure; they are not “palaces of the people” serving as great spaces of civic mixing, and library devotees need to accept this truth if these hallowed institutions are to thrive and realize their fullest potential.
According to the new data, libraries are simply not
significant to the lives of most Americans. Only 7 percent of Americans report visiting
libraries weekly, while 59 percent state that they seldom or never visit their
local public library. These statistics do not differ, either, by the respondents’ age, income, racial or ethnic
background, or neighborhood type (urban, suburban, rural,
etc.). If libraries are “‘the best exemplars’ of our collective life,”
it is no wonder that so many Americans are managing an epidemic
of loneliness, a friendship recession, and ongoing civic
decline.
When I shared these findings, supporters of
libraries predictably snapped back with a host of statistics to bolster their
interest in libraries. But sadly, these advocates have missed the point about
third places and overlook some critically important statistics.
For instance, I was referred to the work of Libraries 2020 which excitingly asserts that more people generally visit their library than attend the “NFL, NHL, NBA, Nascar, or the movie theater COMBINED.” While more Americans may visit libraries more often than professional sports games, this does not speak to the fact that sports facilities are not third places and the events do not widely help build social infrastructure in a community. These sporting venues are nothing compared to the almost 64,000 coffee shops and cafes that cover the nation which anchor communities and their residents.
Library advocates frustratingly ignore that libraries are not synonymous with private entertainment venues either, approvingly citing Gallup’s 2019 study which shows that Americans visit libraries roughly 11 times annually and this so-called “cultural activity” is more common than theatrical events (four times annually), amusement parks (two times annually), or casinos (three times annually). Again, comparing libraries to theaters and casinos is just bizarre as they serve very different functions and relate to their communities differently.
Moreover, the self-reported visit statistics to libraries do not square with the reality that libraries are seeing on the ground. The Institute for Museum and Library Services’ Public Library Survey (PLS) data over the past decade find a non-trivial decline in visits, per capita, to libraries nationwide. This is the gold standard source on the over 18,000 public libraries in the United States, and the PLS data show that in 2009, Americans visited a library 5.4 times per year on average. A decade later in 2019, attendance dropped to 3.9 visits per year — a 28 percent decline and a figure nowhere near Gallup’s self-reported numbers.
The PLS data are in line with the community data reported here and with the 2021 Freckle Report which has found that “there has been a fall of 31% in public library building use over eight years, up to 2018.” This drop includes both gate counts and physical circulation which, “shows that the public library service ignores the figures it does have and does not strive to find the figures it should have.” Even if digital use and remote connection to libraries is up, third spaces require regular, in-person visits. Visiting a space fewer than four times a year does not make for a real institution that anchors residents to their local communities.
The truth is that libraries are not significant factors in the hearts and minds of Americans today; they are certainly not third places for most. Library advocates like the American Library Association are, regrettably, choosing to ignore this reality when they state that “today’s libraries are at the heart of their communities,” for if that were true, it would not be the case that the overwhelming majority of citizens would claim that they rarely or never visit their libraries. The data show that libraries are struggling and suggest that we should all work together to improve and make libraries more open and important to the lives of all Americans.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
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