What are they doing at the library? : A study of the library habits of young people

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to investigate the library habits of young people, age 15 to 24. Our empirical data are gathered in a survey distributed to 104 young men and women at three different public libraries. The questions are about how young people use the public library, what media and services they use and whether or not they are content with what the public library can offer them. In our analysis we have compared our results to previous research and used a model by Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen to determine how they use the library. The previous research we have found deals with the library habits of young people, and their music, movie and book preferences. The model describes different ways in which you can use the public library. This model divides the functions of the public library in four different categories. These four categories are the cultural center, the knowledge center, the information center and the social center. The result of our survey shows that the young people use the library to borrow books and to study. Our result was in most parts consistent with what previous research have shown. Finally we came to the conclusion that the young people in our study use the library mostly like a knowledge center or a cultural centre.Uppsatsnivå: