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In 2019, Americans went more to the library than to the movies on average
- Account10999 7y agoThanks for sharing!
- gshdg 7y agoNow if only we’d fund libraries that way.
- xtrimsky1234 7y agoI pay about 700$ per year in property taxes to my library. Thats much more than what I pay for movies including netflix per year.
- gshdg 7y agoYou pay $700/yr in property tax total? Or $700/yr to the library specifically? If the latter, what’s your total property tax? And where do you find info about what amount of it goes to the library?
- dec0dedab0de 7y agoMore Americans who answer surveys went to the library than to the movies.
- thrwaway69 7y agoI have never filled any surveys that weren't from people I had known. But I feel like I should, as that may make the world more suitable for me. Everyone will believe that I am most people.
- aguyfromnb 7y agoUnless you have some evidence that the sample is biased, how about not blindly dismissing the data? I bet you say, "correlation isn't causation" every time someone posts a scientific paper, too. As if no smart person has ever thought of these issues.
- dec0dedab0de 7y agoIt's an outrageous click bait title loosely based on the results a single survey. It deserves to be dismissed.
- joegahona 7y ago"Self-reported" deserves more emphasis for sure, but the results seem legit: > Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Dec. 2-15, 2019, with a random sample of 1,025 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. > > Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.
- aguyfromnb 7y agoThe fact that the title is click bait has nothing to do with your claim that the survey sample is biased. If it's true, prove it. >results a single survey Says the guy who uses "Ask HN" for help... How many surveys should they do?
- wutbrodo 7y ago> Says the guy who uses "Ask HN" for help... Are you under the impression that anyone is using "Ask HN" to make representative claims about a larger population than "people who answered this thread" (or at best, "people on HN")?
- dang 7y agoWould you please stop posting in the flamewar style, and in particular please drop the personal swipes from your comments here? You've been doing that repeatedly, it's against the rules, and we eventually ban accounts that keep doing it. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- quickthrower2 7y agoI’d say: “Claimed they went to the library”.
- dang 7y ago"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- dec0dedab0de 7y agoFair enough. I was mostly just annoyed at the title, I'll make sure to keep this in mind and bite my tongue if I don't have anything of value to add. :-)
- corporateslave5 7y agoThis just more of a case of the decline of movies and rise of streaming
- onion2k 7y agoThat's not something you can hide behind a "just". As streaming becomes the main source of funding for films that represents a huge change to the Hollywood and indie cinema landscape, and it'll have an impact on much more than just the film industry (end of DVD retail, massive impact on multi-entertainment venues like malls that have an attached cinema, impact on branding as there are far more streaming film and shows dilutes the pool of celebrities to endorse things, less likely to see merchandise tie-ins due to that dilution... etc).
- jamisteven 7y agoYes, because Netflix.
- mymythisisthis 7y agoDirty loud theater, were the screen is too dark because they want to save the life of the bulb vs. being able to start a couple of movies if one is bad.
- throwawaylolx 7y agoJust post the actual results: https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-trips-movies-2019.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-... Also, the results don't show at all that "more Americans went to the library than to the movies" but rather that Americans went more to the library than to the movies (on average), which is not very surprising given that only one of them is free. In other words, if 100 Americans went to the movies once, and 1 American went to the library 101 times, the results would still rank libraries higher than movies despite it being obviously not true that "more Americans went to the library than to the movies."
- bszupnick 7y agoNot just are libraries free, but going once often begets going again i.e. if you take out a book, you have to return it. I know there are other uses for a library, and I wonder the percentage of trips to the library to take out books vs. other reasons.
- codetrotter 7y agoIf someone had asked me about the number of times I have gone to the library, I would actually have a hard time being able to answer that well. First of all I don’t have a great memory of specific things in my day to day life. Ask me today what I had for dinner two days ago I could venture a guess based on what I usually have for dinner, but I couldn’t give you an answer with great confidence. Anyway, part of what makes it kind of hard to define how much I have been to the library is also because I sometimes pass through the library at the university. And I have borrowed like one book recently, but I don’t remember if that was within the last year or not. But actually what I was wanting to say was that, different people might count what constitutes a visit to the library differently. To me, simply passing by to drop off a book does not constitute a visit. Whereas going there to borrow a book counts. And going there to attend some sort of event counts. And going there to browse the shelves for a while counts. And going there to just sit down and work with some of my own stuff on my computer counts.
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- comment_guy 7y agoI'm curious if this is actually conflating homeless people who spend time in the library as one of their only safe places, rather than actual library patrons.
- throwawaylolx 7y agoIt is not. The original article has a breakdown based on income, which shows similar trends for every income bracket: https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-trips-movies-2019.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-... But in any case, the conclusion in the title of the article is wrong and not supported by the results.
- nmstoker 7y agoSorry hadn't seen your comment when I posted. I agree the title of the OP's article is misleading.
- nmstoker 7y agoLooking at the income breakdown at the Gallop link that throwawaylolx posted, it may well be an influence, although conflate seems a bit stronger than I'd put it.
- VLM 7y agoMore an effect of income inequality. Plenty of homeless in the high income inequality downtown library, but there's more people visiting in the higher income equality suburbs which swamp that first effect out when averaged nationwide.
- elfexec 7y agoYou have to pay to watch movies at the movie theater. The movies you rent from the library are free. And if your library is part of a network of libraries, then you probably could find any movie you want to watch. Mix that with youtube, netflix, prime, etc, and you really have little incentive and time to go to the theater.
- neiman 7y agoWhat's the criterion to be included in this list? They compare visiting the library to live music, theater, casinos, theme parks or zoos. But all of the other activities demand payment per visit, while going to a library is free, so it's a bit unfair comparison. I would also compare it to cafes and restaurants, those are also cultural activities. I suspect that then libraries would fall behind.
- aduitsis 7y agoGoing to a restaurant is a cultural activity???
- thrwaway69 7y agoThat depends on which restaurant you go to. ;) I often see a cute nerd typing magic code on his macbook dreaming of a billion dollar SaaS business in Starbucks.
- namdnay 7y agoI’d say so, yes. Food is art and art is culture
- isoskeles 7y agoI don’t think there’s a rule that says good must always be art. A Philly cheesesteak sandwich isn’t art, at least the ones I’ve seen.
- neiman 7y agoNowadays? Definitely. People don't go to eat out "just not to be hungry", they go for the experience.
- thrwaway69 7y ago<rant> Honestly this is such a weird growing expectation. I don't think it's what people want anymore (they did previously) but companies are riling this up, they are making people expect more and care about trivial things to justify their existence and increased pricing. There's simply no single day I don't get by without seeing, care about the experience, it's all about the experience, it's all about how your literal USB cable makes someone feel about themself, etc in startup eco chambers. <rant/>
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- Proven 7y agoIf Netflix and piracy make book lovers gloat, so be it!
- lmilcin 7y agoI can totally understand. I want to go to the movies but every time I look at the actual movies they are running it seems they are trying to scare customers away on purpose with bad repertoire.
- matwood 7y agoAgreed. I find comic book movies boring, so that removes a lot of options. I did go to the movies for the first time in ~3+ years to see 1917. Great movie. But, even with a movie I liked, the theater tried to ruin the experience by showing ~30 minutes of ads/preview prior to the movie.
- hashkb 7y agoMost theaters have reserved seating now. If you show up "on time" you're gonna get ads and previews. Go 20 minutes late; if you're early, walk out and chat or go to the little arcade they always have b
- TulliusCicero 7y agoOh really? That'd be awesome, when I moved to Germany a few years back where reserved seats are more standard it was such a big improvement for the experience.
- HenryBemis 7y agoI stopped showing up on time a few years back for the same reason. 30mins delay (ads 80%, trailers 20%). I find it insulting. When I was growing up I remember watching a couple trailers and that was that. A small scale captive audience experience. The other super annoying thing is that I consume all my poocorn before the movie even began.
- Spooky23 7y agoI’d read more into the libraries are more popular than the popular opinion would think rather than knocking the movies.
- fmajid 7y agoI don't know if Americans are going to the library more, or shunning movie theaters because of price increases and Hollywood's creative bankruptcy and a lack of decent films.
- mymythisisthis 7y agoI feel that most of the movies at the theater are made for 14 year olds.
- cm2187 7y agoI think they are made to please the least common denominator between a US audience, a European audience, and a Chinese audience. But the result is pretty much what you say.
- mymythisisthis 7y agoI should add that the movies are made for 14 year old boys. I think parents are more hesitant to let their young teenage girls out alone.
- goto11 7y agoThe reason is that girls will still watch to movies made for boys but not vice versa. Also grown ups will still watch movies made for 14 year olds, but not vice versa. So making movies for 14 year olds will reach the largest demographics.
- jcadam 7y agoCould also be the changes in consumer technology. Back in the day, watching a move at home meant renting a VHS (or Beta if you chose your VCR poorly) at Blockbuster/Hollywood video/et al., (and after a new movie was released to VHS, it was frequently rented out for a couple of weeks and you had to wait), then plopping it into your VCR and viewing it on your 19" fuzzy CRT with built in speakers. Now, you just rent/buy the movie you want from your couch, and watch it on your 65" 4K widescreen TV connected to a home theater system. The movie theater experience, by contrast, hasn't really changed much since I was a kid (1980s) - oh wait, ticket and concession prices have gone way up. IMO, if I can wait to watch a new movie until it's released on Amazon (and being 40, I'm much more patient than I used to be), I'd much rather do that.
- 7thaccount 7y agoNow that I have children, the library is a regular weekly stop. We've only been to one or two movies in the past year. There's enough on Prime, Netflix, and Disney+ to be honest.
- agumonkey 7y agoShould we conclude about libraries or about hollywood output ?
- vulture916 7y agoNot going to lie, I definitely pirated a movie or two at the library.
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago...went to the library, to check out a movie?
- molteanu 7y agoMight be related to the rise of Netflix and binge watching, though. Movie-goers go down, the library/movie ration goes up. All is well.
- cm2187 7y ago...or go watch movies on netflix at the library!
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- yayajacky 7y agoIt’s a nice place to do remote work on
- theboywho 7y agoThat doesn't mean Americans watched less movies (maybe even the opposite given Netflix) or that Americans went to the library in 2019 more than they did in 2018. Going to the movies is probably a dying activity, comparing it to going to the library is useless (or even worse: misleading), in that it pushes people to think Americans are reading more by going less to the movies.
- rossdavidh 7y agoI went to the library a couple times in the last few weeks, different locations, and both had quite a few people in them. I haven't been to a movie theater in quite some time. I think part of what is going on here, is that the real movie junkies are watching movies at home, whereas the real book junkies still go to the library. So, both figures may be influenced by the most-frequent users, but in different directions.
- Insanity 7y agoI'm not sure about that, with things like Kindle and Kindle unlimited, book junkies have a Netflix equivalent. I read a lot but switched to ebooks almost entirely 2 years ago
- II2II 7y agoEbooks can be quite expensive or very inconvenient. Reading a book a week from a major publisher usually costs more than a month from a digital streaming service. Borrowing books requires some planning ahead since much of what's worth reading has a wait list, assuming that it is even available to libraries. Contrast that to print titles. You may be stuck placing something on hold if you are looking for a particular title, but there is usually something worth reading available.
- Insanity 7y agoMh, I hardly read books just as they come out - there's plenty to read and there's kindle deals all the time. So I often end up paying between 1-5 dollars per book. So that's somewhere between 4-20 dollars a month, and netflix spotify/netflix both are about 15 dollars. So some months my kindle will come out cheaper, sometimes more expensive. But yeah, sometimes they are as expensive as print-book. Which is silly imo.
- largespoon 7y agoI wonder how much outliers like college students scew the data. I practically live at the library.
- pwython 7y agoThere's an age breakout here: https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-trips-movies-2019.aspx https://news.gallup.com/poll/284009/library-visits-outpaced-... I'm still surprised at the results. I'm in the 30-49 bracket, as is everyone I interact with, and I'd be shocked if someone I knew has been to the library in the past year. They would most likely use the internet for information.
- x43b 7y agoMaybe I'm an outlier being in that age bracket and having young kids. But I am shocked that none of those 30-49 year olds don't have kids that are being escorted to the library to pick out new ones and returning/repeating every two weeks. One adult and two kids ~25x=75 person trips. Finding the equivalent number of movies that everyone would want to see and sit through is unfathomable to me.
- astura 7y agoI don't think there's many people who go to libraries just for "information." Libraries are a great place to just chill if you just wanna get out of the house and the weather isn't great for parks. It's free, you can stay as long as you want, there's comfortable seating and plenty of reading material (or you can bring your own books, work, or projects), and friendly staff. There's also workshops, events, meetups, etc.
- marcusverus 7y agoWild. I'm in the same bracket, and I'd say half of my friends and co-workers in the bracket are library people. It's not a matter of going to the library for information that is really available for free on the internet. I'm there for the free books. If you read 40 books a year and are patient enough to ensure the sometimes months-long waitlists for new and popular books, using your local library could easily save you ~$400 per year.
- dm03514 7y agoOur library (Eldersburg branch in carroll county MD) is vibrant! I work from it M-F to get out of the tiny apartment and away from the kids. The library runs "story times" a couple times a week for the kids. There is a small kid play area that we frequent during winter or rain when we want to kill an hour. The coolest part is that there is a STEM center with robot, 3d printing, Legos & Julia/Scratch machines. I also work from the "teen" section (because it allows for talking and I have zoom meetings all day) which has: comics, xbox one, and study rooms available. There are always people tutoring out of the rooms and kids hanging out gaming with switch/xbox fortnite. It's really cool.
- rahuldottech 7y agoThat sounds incredible! I wish we had something like that here.
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- xbmcuser 7y agoHow many went to watch porn on library computers
- pfdietz 7y agoMaybe dead malls should be turned into libraries. Really Big libraries.
- VLM 7y agoUnfortunately, locally its a stereotype that they turn every dead mall's anchor store into a movie theater. Also, locally, most dead malls die when they can no longer afford to maintain the roof, and water is pouring out of the ceiling everywhere until the occupancy permit gets yanked and leases are broken, and flooding is exactly what you don't want for books.
- pfdietz 7y ago> Unfortunately, locally its a stereotype that they turn every dead mall's anchor store into a movie theater. That happened at our local mall back in 2007. It's a bit of a triumph that the mall is still around. The Target on the end is worth more than the rest of the mall combined, I understand (Target owns that space rather than leasing it.)
- mxuribe 7y agoThe ever-powerful pause button is what keeps me from going to move theaters; for many years now. (Also the ridiculous pricing of theaters nowadays, even though i support paying artists for their craft and work.) Stepping back a bit...A few years ago - after we cut the cord on our (stupidly/unnecessarily expensive) cable tv subscription, but before there were several, decent streaming service offerings - my family and i would borrow DVDs from our local library (including an odd book here or there). It was wonderful! Sure, sometimes a desired movie would be out/booked by someone else for weeks...But there were always other options, plenty of films to see from classics to more recent stuff. Also, it felt nice to support our local library. After a few years of this of course - when more streaming services beyond only netflix became more prevalent - we stopped leveraging our local library. The content of these streaming services became compelling enough, and - provided that you don't over do it with too many services at once - their pricing has been decent enough. So, for me whether it is borrowing media from our library or subscribing to some decent streaming service, it is the fact that i can enjoy all this content from the comfort of my own home AND pause it (for me to take a food break, bathroom break, etc.) however/whenever i wish is what keeps me away from move theaters. (Also, the cost has a little impact...but by far and away, it is the pause button that drives my behavior.) In this day and age, I'm wondering if i should cancel 1 or 2 streaming services, and go back to supporting our local library...even if only to help prop up a decent institution for our society?
- rossdavidh 7y agoOdd that, although they mention it's an update to a 2001 survey, they don't link to that 2001 survey to compare. Were libraries going up since 2001, or were movie theaters going down, or both? Google is not wanting to show it to me, either.
- pointillistic 7y agothey are not reading books in the library, they are working on computers or even streaming movies. I am in a library all the time, so this is what I observe.
- uncle_j 7y agoI am from the UK. But the last movie I watched in the Cinema was in 2014. It is expensive and unnecessary. I bought in the new year a 60inch 4k HDR TV for less than £400 from toshiba. Why would you bother when you can get a similar experience at home without the hassle?
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- bstar77 7y agoMovie going is something that has been on the steady decline for years. The reality is, people aren't replacing movie watching with reading, they are just watching movies in a more private setting. Media consumption is at unprecedented levels today so it's still dominating our focused time. That said, it's wonderful that libraries are still relevant and that many people still find them incredibly useful. The act of going to a library is what's so amazing... you are actively leaving the comfort of your home and leaving all of the distractions to visit a place that transitions your focus to learning. Building that habit/ritual for young people is so important because it will build a foundation for a love of learning.
- mark_l_watson 7y agoThat makes me happy. I live in a small town (Sedona Arizona) but we have a fantastic library, probably because we have several billionaires living in the area so there is money for libraries, medical facilities, etc. that is unusual for a small town. I wonder how peoples’ perception on the state of the economy affects the library vs. going to the movies decision. For many people in my social circle they are doing better than ever financially and for some, worry about high inflation (currently well over 6%, ignoring the big lie also known as CPI) and reduced social security and Medicare benefits in the future. Libraries are wonderful places to hang out and they are usually free.
- xedrac 7y agoI go to the library far more frequently than the movie theater. There's just something magical about libraries for me. So much collected knowledge and creativity, yet unexplored. The smell of old books and the general atmosphere seem to prime me for reading. The fact that I my wife and N kids tag along probably helps the attendance numbers.
- lightedman 7y agoNo need to go to the movies when most libraries have a media room with a fat plaque on the wall stating the contract they have with pretty much EVERY movie company, allowing them to screen films to the public. Why pay when I can watch for free at the library?
- planetzero 7y agoThey might have gone to the library, but it probably wasn't for books. My local library has a bigger selection of movies (and television shows) than the last time I went to Blockbuster.
- aj7 7y agoEven more watched porn on the internet.
- anonymous_i 7y agoI wonder if people actually opted to a library instead of movie. If so, I wonder what would be the number of people who opted to a library instead of TV/Netflix?
- dvduval 7y agoI guess I'm one of those frequent visitors to the library, and as strange as it might seem I don't believe I have been to see a movie at the theater in more than 10 years.
- asdf333 7y agoif you have kids, its an awesome place to go
- cryptozeus 7y agoRegardless of article’s accuracy in results, this trend I did not see coming 10 years ago. Given the popularity of ebooks and internet, I thought libraries will slowly go down. This is fantastic!
- Magnets 7y agoI would guess that low-income families go to the library to use the computers or wifi. Possibly even for IT classes - especially the older generations
- cryptozeus 7y agoDoubt people really go to library just for wifi. Everyone has smartphones now!
- izietto 7y agoWhy is people downvoting me? I don't think what I wrote deserves downvotes
- mmhsieh 7y agohow many went to use library broadband to watch videos and movies? that's what i see all the time.
- dang 7y agoUrl changed from https://lithub.com/in-2019-more-americans-went-to-the-library-than-to-the-movies-yes-really/ https://lithub.com/in-2019-more-americans-went-to-the-librar..., which points to this.
- mgh2 7y agoAre the results segmenting for penniless students who went to the library to study out of "obligation" rather than leisure?
- avocado4 7y agoI go to library almost every day - it's free office space essentially when you're running a startup, with WiFi and printing. I can't say the same about movies. Seems like apples to oranges essentially.
- quickthrower2 7y agoThe downside is you need to pack up and lose your spot if you need the toilet
- caymanjim 7y agoIt's weird to see going to the library referred to as a social activity. While in many cases it may be a social activity that involves a stay, in most of the cases I observe, it's brief and transactional, akin to visiting a convenience store or a short-duration service provider (like a car wash). I went to the library about eight times last year, and in every case I was there solely to use their printer or fax machine (because if you don't work in an office, this is about the only place to access these things; certainly the cheapest). While there, most of the people I observed were either doing the same thing, or were stopping in to briefly browse and check out books or media. These aren't "social activities" unless buying a pack of gum at the corner store is a social activity. A haircut is far more social for me, and I had more of them last year. My mother takes her great-granddaughter to the library a couple times a month, for various fantastic events the library puts together, which are highly social. They're well-attended, so I have no doubt that there are a decent number of people who do legitimately socialize there, but I wouldn't count most library visits as social events.
- SolaceQuantum 7y agoI think it depends. In the libraries closest to me, any events are squirreled away in conference rooms and other areas that wouldn't disturb people who are in the same building to study, read, or use the facilities available. It makes sense that you'd never encounter a social group if you only go to a library to access a part of the library that would've been separated out.
- caymanjim 7y agoThe libraries near me are much smaller. Obviously my anecdotal observations are a limited data set. Also, I just realized the article says "cultural activity" rather than "social activity", which changes things a bit, but my anecdote still stands insofar as I'm not really sure that much of the use I see counts for that either. Libraries are great. I'm just not sure we should be patting ourselves on the back based on the usage I observe.
- momirlan 7y agoin my times, we used to go to the library to read books, wonder if that is still the attraction
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- mrtweetyhack 7y agoGo to the library to borrow movies
- ckdarby 7y ago> Women Visit Libraries Nearly Twice as Frequently as Men Doesn't surprise me. It is pretty hard to "cat call" someone at a library with the whole silence thing.
- dudus 7y agoLots of people doubting the stats here. And while I generally approve the inquisitive nature of HN we maybe should take this time to be optimistic. Good for Americans for breaking stereotypes. Congrats!