A Whole Lot of Americans Would Be Angry if Their Public Library Closed

If you don't regularly (or ever) use your neighborhood library, you may be surprised to learn how many other people do. According to a new Pew survey, nearly half of Americans aged 16 or older – 48 percent if them – have visited a public library or book mobile in the past year.

Even more surprising: 90 percent of these same people say their community would be impacted if the library closed (suggesting that a lot of folks either like knowing that the library is there, even if they don't use it, or they recognize that people who do have few alternative resources). From the survey: