Gen Z falls for the quiet charms of the public library
The Guardian Weekly|February 02, 2024
Henry Earls dresses up to go to the library. He picks out cosy knitted sweaters and accessories with well-worn copies of classic books. Earls looks like an adjunct English professor - or an extra in the movie Saltburn.
Alaina Demopoulos
Gen Z falls for the quiet charms of the public library

"I want to cultivate an aesthetic when I go to the library," the 20-year-old Cooper Union art student said. "And, honestly, I dress up to see if someone will come up to me and say hi." 

When Earls isn't studying at the New York Public Library, he cruises the reading room for friends - or more than friends. Last week, he (respectfully) slipped his number to a young woman sitting near him, which led to a flirty text exchange.

Gen Z seems to love public libraries. A November report from the American Library Association (ALA) drawing from ethnographic research and a 2022 survey found that gen Z and millennials are using public libraries, both in person and digitally, at higher rates than older generations.

More than half of the survey's 2,075 respondents had visited a physical library within the past 12 months. Not all of them were bookworms: according to the report, 43% of gen Z and millennials don't identify as readers - but about half of those non-readers still visited their local library in the past year. Black gen Zers and millennials visit libraries at particularly high rates.

Denne historien er fra February 02, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra February 02, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA THE GUARDIAN WEEKLYSe alt
What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0
The Guardian Weekly

What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0

THE 45TH AND 47TH commander-in-chief will face fewer limits on his ambition when he is sworn in again in January.

time-read
5 mins  |
November 15, 2024
New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?
The Guardian Weekly

New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?

DURING THE FIRST TRUMP TERM, Richard Moore, then the political director of the UK Foreign Offi ce and now the head of MI6, has admitted that half of Britain’s diplomats woke up each morning dreading what they might read on the president’s Twitter feed.

time-read
5 mins  |
November 15, 2024
Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?
The Guardian Weekly

Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?

'Tahini has a beautiful versatility,\" says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, \"from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.\"

time-read
2 mins  |
November 15, 2024
Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian Weekly

Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland

Are you ready for Trump unbound? You may have thought the former and future president was already pretty unrestrained, not least because Donald Trump has never shown anything but brazen disrespect for boundaries or limits of any kind. And you would be right. But, as an earlier entertainer turned president – and Trump combines the two roles – liked to say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.

time-read
4 mins  |
November 15, 2024
Trump's return is bleak for America and the world
The Guardian Weekly

Trump's return is bleak for America and the world

This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and the popular vote -giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate. If many voters gambled on him in 2016, they doubled down this time.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 15, 2024
Flower Power
The Guardian Weekly

Flower Power

Once a modest sign of remembrance for the war dead, the poppy has increasingly been used as a prop for performative patriotism, and a tool that helps to gauge others' loyalty to an ideal of national sacrifice

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 15, 2024
When adult children cut the cord
The Guardian Weekly

When adult children cut the cord

Grownups who cut off contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents who really believe they've done their best

time-read
10+ mins  |
November 15, 2024
Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping
The Guardian Weekly

Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping

In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao's troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea then, Mao reportedly said, because \"without the lips, the teeth are cold\".

time-read
2 mins  |
November 15, 2024
The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare
The Guardian Weekly

The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare

It was mid-morning in central Port-au-Prince and already two shooting victims had been rushed into the hospital past a mural instructing visitors to leave machetes and rifles outside.

time-read
2 mins  |
November 15, 2024
Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton
The Guardian Weekly

Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton

Scientists are using technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic marine life for the first time-to help us learn more about ourselves

time-read
4 mins  |
November 15, 2024