What do we know about public library use?

Data from Westminster Libraries on membership, borrowing frequency and stock use is compared with significant studies of public library use from the last 50 years. The article examines the extent of public library use, and the social and demographic factors influencing use. Analysis of book and audio‐visual stock use indicates the concentration of demand on a few titles and subjects, and the relationship to what is in demand commercially. Aspects of public library use have remained constant over at least the last 50 years, and across geographical boundaries. Public libraries are used principally for leisure, for borrowing recent fiction, for useful non fiction related to immediate life interests, and for pop music. Quantitative data from library systems provides a different, probably more accurate, picture of the nature and extent of public library use.