Despite the fact that on the face of it
libraries and the young have the same
wishes as to their library, the report
shows that the traditional library in a
de luxe version may not necessarily be
the ideal library of the young. Their life
situation and their conception of the
library indicate that there is a gap
between libraries and the young.

The unwelcoming library

The young see the libraries as inflexible
and discriminating. Opening hours is a
bone of contention. The library is closed
when the young have the time to
visit it, and the young need the flexibility
of being able to go the library
without having to plan their visit in
advance.

There are also the regulations which
make the young feel unwelcome. Particularly
the rule about silence makes
them feel that the library is not really
their library. The young realise the
need for contemplation, and they consider
it one of the library’s functions to
provide the space, but it does not fit
into their lifestyle. They are communicating,
media-consuming and used to
learning through teamwork.

The young find librarians discriminating.
One young person explains how
he or she often sees how the librarian
wants to assist an older person, while
the young person is just told to go to a
shelf, which he or she has in fact already
tried to find. Anne Kofoed and
Niels Ulrik Sørensen, the authors of the
report, conclude that what happens in
the actual situation is not the important
thing, but how the young experience
it. They have experienced a library
where it is difficult to find what they
need, and equally difficult to get the
help to find it.

The young also feel that they often visit
the library in vain. Most of them have
used the library previously and would
do so again if it matched their needs.
Some young people say that they
visited the library when the Internet
first arrived. They did not have it at
home, but they could get access to it
from the library. However, it was not
only Internet access that attracted
them. They also came because they
knew that their friends would be there
for the same reason. In this way the
library became part of their social life.

The social young

The young people’s dream library
combines the classic library with those
places in the ‘town space’ where their
social life thrives. This dream reflects
the life situation of the young. Their
everyday lives are busy with school,
homework and leisure activities. In
terms of free time, the young choose
activities which they organise themselves.
They prefer running to sports
club activities, and they want to meet
on their own terms in the social space,
whether it be in cafés, shops, cinemas
or just taking a run together.

The young people, who took part in
the study, are all in further education.
This is a period in their lives when they
leave their childhood behind and have
to find their own identity as young
adults. They have made their choice of
education and have thus for the first
time made a decision that affects their
adult lives. There are also a number of
other ‘first times’: Relationships, sex,
alcohol and parties as well as the new
educational institution with new
friends.

In their search for an identity, their
social life becomes a goal in itself.
Together with their friends they search
both in physical town space and via
mobile and Internet. In the town space
they can meet on their own conditions
without any adult interference and
restrictive rules. Here they can take
examples from each other and from
present currents and tendencies, and in
this way develop their identity.

According to the authors of the report
the point is that the social aspect can
only be maintained as long as it is relevant.
Everybody must be enjoying it.
This is the kind of life the library has to
fit into. It is a lifestyle where the young
put the greatest emphasis on the selforganising,
the social and as little adult
interference as possible. It is also a lifestyle
where anything not considered
relevant is discarded.

You can read the results of the study in:
Anne Kofoed and Niels Ulrik Sørensen:
Rapport om unge og biblioteker. (Report
on libraries and the young). Compiled
by Cefu for Roskilde Library, 2006.
You can buy the report at the Danish
Library Association www.dbf.dk

Tina Pihl
Senior Consultant, The Roskilde Libraries
tinap@roskildebib.dk