OCLC's "Pereception of Libraries 2010" Report

OCLC released it's annual "Perception of Libraries" report recently.  I love these because they give all sorts of insightful graphics about public perceptions of libraries in easy to absorb graphics.  I wish more academic literature was more like this!  As with any publication or article about "the state of libraries" the trends and percentages all have to be taken with a grain of salt--lost are nuances like what type of libraries exhibit which trends more or less strongly, and how regions affect perception.  Still, I thought there were some interesting take-aways.  Some highlights are:

-7 out of 10 public libraries report that they are the only source of free internet for their communities.

I know traditionally we all like to think of libraries as necessary for literacy in the traditional sense--giving people access to things to read--but this is astounding and highlights how libraries are crucial to promoting internet literacy (through access) in addition to "computer literacy."  This is interesting for someone like me who works at a public library because, at least at my library, we aren't encouraged to sit down with patrons who don't know what they're doing on the internet to walk them through everything they need to know.  Obviously this isn't part of the job description, and I definitely like that.  Still it highlights how important web classes are, and how librarians might be asked to provide more and more one on one or small group web-use education services in the future.

-In total about 33% of Americans have ever used their library's web site, compared to 68% who have a library card.

It's astounding to me that less than half of people with library cards have ever used their library's website, though I suppose I'm used to libraries that have pretty robust ones.  Not all do.  This definitely needs to/will increase, and motivates me even more to graduate with technical skills to help build and design sites and think about what communities need to be put in touch with online.  I guess taking graphic design was a good idea!  Too bad I missed out on design of complex websites.