24 LIBRARY USERS

SPECIFIC AGE GROUPS INCLUDED IN EACH CATEGORY

Young 18-35 20-34 2039 21-39 1429 21-34 2144

Middle 36-50 35-54 4049 ...  30-44 35-54 45759
Old soand ssand soand goand 4s5and s55and 6o and
over over  over  Over over  over over

aAs these studies vary considerably in their classification of the age con-
tinuum, it was necessary to equate them in rough terms for the purpose
of this table.

out, and the public library may attract relatively more users
from the upper-age groups, which will have had more formal
education. But, in any case, the age ratios given in Tables 6—7
do currently exist among adults. All in all, the library clientele
is mainly composed of the younger age groups; about three
fourths of the total users are under thirty-five. In this country
the public library is today a young people’s institution.

EDUCATION Another major correlate of public-library use
is formal education. In every case the proportion of people
registered with or actively using the library rises sharply with
the level of schooling (Table 8). From 1o to 15 percent of
adults having only a grade-school education are library users
as compared with about four times as many of the college-
educated. The sharp difference is attributable to the fact that
people with more formal education read more easily, as well
as to their reading habits. Those who have spent more years
in a school system not only have had more training in the
technique of reading but also they have come to rely more
heavily on books as informational and recreational sources.
For these reasons a disproportionately large number of the
public library clientele are drawn from the segments of the
community with the most schooling.

Although this is generally true, at the same time the library
clientele itself is composed of people with little, rather than
much, schooling simply because there are so many more