The Female-Friendly Public Library: Gender Differences in Adolescents’ Uses and Perceptions of U.S. Public Libraries

This article reports the results of a written survey of ninety-seven female and male adolescents, ages fourteen through seventeen, at two U.S. public libraries. In addition to exploring gender-related variance in the reasons for which teenagers use public libraries, the survey investigated how frequently the respondents needed information relating to twelve major topic areas and how useful they considered public libraries in helping them to find information relating to these topics. For the most part, the results indicated no significant gender difference in the respondents’ reasons for using libraries or in their frequency of information needs. The only major gender difference was the girls’ tendency to rate libraries as more useful in helping them to meet their personal information needs, making public libraries “female-friendly spaces” for adolescent girls. The authors conclude with suggestions for helping both female and male adolescents realize the full potential of public libraries and public library services.

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