Pew Internet & American Life Project: Libraries, Patrons and E-Books

The Pew Internet & American Life Project last month released another interesting report:

The report’s accompanying questionnaire is here.

The report indicates the growing importance of e-books and also highlights some curious factors — consider these findings:

12% of readers of e-books borrowed an e-book from the library in the past year. But a majority of Americans do not know that this service is provided by their local library.
E-book borrowers appreciate the selection of e-books at their local library, but they often encounter wait lists, unavailable titles, or incompatible file formats.
Many Americans would like to learn more about borrowing e-books.
58% of Americans have a library card, and 69% say that their local library is important to them and their family.
Library card holders are more than twice as likely to have bought their most recent book than to have borrowed it from a library.
Many e-book borrowers purchase e-books, too.
Library card holders use more technology, and they report that they read more books.
Leading-edge librarians and patrons say that the advent of e-books has produced a major transformation in book searching and borrowing at libraries:

book-borrowing habits are changing (routine, person-to-person library interactions are declining while online communications and searching increase);
library holdings are changing (funds shifting from print to electronic title acquisition); and,
librarians’ roles are changing (more “tech support”).