Gender Differences in the Use of a Public Library

Experience and anecdotal evidence suggest that men and women use—or do not use—public libraries in different ways and amounts. Compared to extensive research on male and female differences in reading, computer use or within the context of the school library, there is relatively little descriptive research showing the library preferences of adult men and women. This study analyzed over 1,200 user responses in a survey conducted as part of a strategic planning process of an affluent public library. Male patrons in many respects were simply below-average in many areas (fewer visits, fewer services or resources used) but also showed distinctly different choices in a few areas, mainly related to electronic and business-related items. They also are almost completely uninterested in children's areas, a sharp contrast with adult female patrons). Male usage is distinct enough to warrant special attention from library planners. The results help library managers understand better what different patrons already use, and those areas where greater marketing or different strategic choices may be needed. In a 2001 essay in Library Journal, Marylaine Block argued for a greater focus on maleoriented magazines and books. Block presented no data on male preferences within the library context, an area for which there is comparatively little information. Several major studies of library users, or of that notoriously difficult subject, the general public including non-library users, do not report gender differences. These include the 1994 study by D'Elia and Rodger on the roles of the public library, the Walzer, Scott, and Sutton 2000 and 2001 study of Illinois residents and the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System's 1999 study of California residents. The comprehensive and in many ways ground-breaking OCLC study of the general public in several countries (but conducted online, therefore reaching only a self-selected subset of the population as a whole), breaks down its respondents into categories of card holders, college students, age groups, and country. Gender differences are not reported. In a “smartsearch” of the term “gender” in Library Literature, of the 36 items retrieved, almost half (16 items or 44%) concerned differences between the genders in children. Six addressed gender differences in management and five in scholarship or publication. The remaining eight were on a wide variety of topics, with three concerned with some computer or Internet issues (web advertising, Internet commerce, and the Internet in general), two were casual columns, and three covered oral communication of technical information, science fiction collections and the history of literacy.