Gallup poll: Americans went to libraries more than movie theaters last year
“Americans went to the library 10.5 times on average in 2019. The next most popular pastime was seeing a movie in a theater, at an average of 5.3 times in a year. Next in popularity were attending a live sporting event at 4.7 times a year, attending a live musical event or theatrical production at 3.8 times a year, and visiting a historic park or national park at 3.7 times a year.” - Discrn
I went to a library once last year, which was more than the previous I-don’t-know-how-many years combined. Off the top of my head, I went to the movies around ten times last year. Yet, I read far more than the average American. And that fact may not say much either, unless I were to detail the types of books I read. For all anyone knows, I may read nothing but old Archie Comics.
I once worked in a library. Using a very conservative estimate, at least 75% of the books that were checked out were harlequins. And movies were checked out at a higher rate than non-harlequin books.
This poll speaks more to ecocomic options than it does to literacy and reading habits.
I love libraries, love old books, but like John, I don’t go very often, and it’s always shocking to me to see the DVDs out there in front instead of books.
One side note is that perhaps people aren’t going to movie theaters much because so many movies simply aren’t worth watching, and adjusted for inflation, the cost of a movie ticket is about 5x more than it was when my parents were kids. It makes a difference.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Discussion