LIBRARY USERS ' 39

MARITAL STATUS Single persons use the library relatively
more than do married people (Table 18). This does not mean
that there are more single than married adults among the li-
brary s clientele, since there are many more of the latter in the
populanon at large but it refers to the proportionate share of
these groups in the library’s clientele. The differential can
probably be explained by three facts: First, the smgle adults
are younger than the ‘married adults, and age, with its corre-
late education, is a major determinant of library use. Sec-
ondly, married people may borrow books for their spouses
and thus actually represent more library use than is recorded.

Thirdly, married adults are presumably more involved in do-

mestic duties and home-making tasks, so that they have less
leisure time for book reading than do single people. What-
ever the explanation, the facts are clear: the public library
attracts relatively more single than married people among its
adult users. ;

TABLE 18

Pusric LiBraArRY UseErs AMONG SINGLE AND MARRIED PEOPLE,
ApAPTED FROM THREE STUDIES

PERCENTAGES
Marital Jobnson Kaplan Berelson
Status 1932 1943 1948
Single 38 42 35
Married 29 26 2§
TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
| Single 326 1,054 122
i Married 540 3,754 782

RACE Negroes use the public library less than do white
people, because most of them have fewer library facilities, es-
ipecially in the South, and because they have had less formal
leducation to equip them for reading. No surveys have been

Thwrs ¥