Adults using public libraries

Published 24 October 2017

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• the use of public libraries dropped significantly from 2005/06 (48%) to 2015/16 (33%)

• the drop in use of public libraries was seen across all ethnic groups

• between 2005/06 and 2015/16, White adults (including White ethnic minorities) were significantly less likely to use public libraries than adults from other ethnic groups

Things you need to know

These figures are estimates based on the Taking Part survey.

The Taking Part survey is a ‘sample survey’. It collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach ‘findings’) about the total population.

Unless stated otherwise, the commentary for this data includes only reliable, or ‘statistically significant’, findings. Findings are statistically significant when we can be confident that they can be repeated, and are reflective of the total population rather than just the survey sample.

Specifically, the statistical tests used mean we can be confident that if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population, 19 times out of 20 we would get similar findings.

As with all surveys, the estimates from the Taking Part survey are subject to a degree of uncertainty as they are based on a sample of the population. The degree of uncertainty is greater when the number of respondents is small, so it will be highest for ethnic minority groups.

What the data measures

This data measures the percentage of adults (aged 16 and over) in England who used public library services in the year before taking the survey.

Percentages are calculated out of yearly totals of survey respondents. Results are adjusted to make them representative of the population as a whole.

The ethnic categories used in this data

For the period 2005/06 to 2015/16, the ethnic categories used are:

• White - including White British and White ethnic minorities
• Other - all other ethnic groups

These broad ethnic groups have been used because analysis is not available for the specific ethnic groups across the whole time series.

However, for each of the years 2005/06, 2010/11 and 2015/16, results have been broken down into 4 broad ethnic groups:

• Asian
• Black
• White (which includes White ethnic minorities)
• Other (which includes adults of mixed ethnicity)

2. Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2015/16
• Source: Taking Part, focus on: diversity trends

Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity

Ethnicity	%	Number
All	33	10,171
Asian	47	434
Black	48	242
White	32	9,312
Other	40	174

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adults using public libraries Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2015/16, 33% of adults in England had used a public library at least once in the past year

• significantly more Black (48%) and Asian (47%) adults than White adults (32%) (including White ethnic minorities) had used a public library at least once in the past year

3. Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity over time (3 years)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2005/06, 2010/11 and 2015/16
• Source: Taking Part, focus on: diversity trends

Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity over time (3 years)

	All		Asian		Black		White		Other
Time	All %	All Number	Asian %	Asian Number	Black %	Black Number	White %	White Number	Other %	Other Number
2005/06	48	28,117	59	2,080	57	1,322	47	24,038	55	645
2010/11	40	14,102	50	796	51	423	38	12,617	48	238
2015/16	33	10,171	47	434	48	242	32	9,312	40	174

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adults using public libraries Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity over time (3 years) Summary

This data shows that:

• significantly fewer adults in all ethnic groups used public libraries in 2015/16 than in 2005/06

• the largest drop in use between 2005/06 and 2015/16 was by White adults (including White minorities), from 47% to 32%, and by adults of Other ethnicities, from 55% to 40%

• Black and Asian adults were significantly more likely to use public libraries than White adults in all years

4. Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity over time

• Location: England
• Time period: 2005/06 to 2015/16
• Source: Taking Part, focus on: diversity trends

Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity over time

	All		White		Other
Time	All %	All Number	White %	White Number	Other %	Other Number
2005/06	48	28,117	47	24,038	57	4,047
2006/07	46	24,174	45	21,317	57	2,829
2007/08	45	25,720	44	22,794	58	2,880
2008/09	41	10,752	40	9,728	50	1,010
2009/10	39	6,097	38	5,455	51	630
2010/11	40	14,102	38	12,617	50	1,457
2011/12	39	9,188	38	8,301	47	871
2012/13	37	9,838	36	9,054	45	775
2013/14	35	10,355	34	9,545	48	798
2014/15	34	9,817	33	9,050	47	757
2015/16	33	10,171	32	9,312	46	850

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adults using public libraries Percentage of adults who had used a public library in the past year, by ethnicity over time Summary

This data shows that:

• over time White adults (including White ethnic minorities) were generally less likely to use public libraries than adults of all other ethnicities

• overall there was a significant decline in the use of public libraries, but the biggest decline was in White adults, dropping from 47% in 2005/06 to 32% in 2015/16, compared with 57% to 46% for adults in all other ethnic groups

5. Methodology

The Taking Part survey measures cultural activity by adults (aged 16 and over) and children (aged 5 to 10 and 11 to 15), living in private households in England. There is no geographical restriction on where the activity or event occurred.

The sample for the Taking Part survey was chosen by first randomly selecting households from the Postcode Address File.

An interviewer visits these addresses and, if contact is made, records details of all individuals living at each address. One adult, and where applicable one child aged 5 to 10 and one aged 11 to 15, is then selected to participate in the survey.

These figures only apply to adults aged 16 and over.

Weighting

Weighting is used to adjust the results of a survey to make them representative of the population and improve their accuracy.

For example, a survey which contains 25% females and 75% males will not accurately reflect the views of the general population which we know is around 50% male and 50% female.

Statisticians rebalance or ‘weight’ the survey results to more accurately represent the general population. This helps to make them more reliable.

Survey weights are usually applied to make sure the survey sample has broadly the same gender, age, ethnic and geographic make up as the general population.

The data in the Taking Part sample is weighted to make sure it is representative of the population in England. The data is weighted to:

• compensate for unequal probabilities of selection
• adjust for non-responses

Weighting is based on mid-2014 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

Confidence intervals

Confidence intervals for each ethnic group are available in ‘Download the data’.

Of adults responding to the Taking Part survey question, 33% had used a public library in 2015/16. This is a reliable estimate of the percentage of adults in England who used a public library in that period. But because the Taking Park survey is based on a random sample of adults, it’s impossible to be 100% certain of the true percentage.

It’s 95% certain, however, that somewhere between 32% and 35% of all adults in England used a public library. In statistical terms, this is a 95% confidence interval. This means that if 100 random samples were taken, then 95 times out of 100 the estimate would fall between the upper and lower confidence interval. But 5 times out of 100 it would fall outside this range.

The smaller the survey sample, the more uncertain the estimate and the wider the confidence interval. For example, the number of Black adults responding to the survey in 2015/16 (242 respondents) was much smaller than the overall adult population that responded to the survey (10,171 respondents), so we can be less certain about the estimate for the smaller group (Black adults, 48%). This greater uncertainty is expressed by a wider confidence interval, for example of between 39% and 56% for Black adults in 2015/16.

Rounding

Percentages are given to the nearest whole number.

Further technical information

Taking Part technical reports

6. Data sources

Source

Taking Part, focus on: diversity trends

Publisher

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Publication frequency

Ad-hoc

Secondary source

Taking Part survey

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Publication frequency

Twice a year

Purpose of data source

The Taking Part Survey measures people's involvement in cultural activities in England.

The data is widely used by policy officials, practitioners, academics and charities.

7. Download the data

Public library engagment - Spreadsheet (csv) 8 KB

This file contains: Measure, Time, Ethnicity, Geography, Value, Upper bound, Lower bound, Sample size

Publication release date: 24 October 2017

full page history

1. 24 October 2017 First published

From: Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

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