Evidence to help build an understanding of how audiences have engaged differently with Libraries and Literature based events during and moving out of the pandemic.

Cultural Participation Monitor Key Findings:

  • When asked about their culture interests, 21% of all respondents expressed an interest in spoken word and poetry. 30% said they were not very interested and 24% said they were not at all interested.
  • During the pandemic, 41% of all respondents had read books for pleasure and 7% had written stories, poetry, plays or created music.
  • Attendance to libraries almost doubled in 2021 - 45% of people surveyed visited in 2020, while 84% visited in 2021.
  • 86% were satisfied that the venue, event or place had taken adequate steps to ensure Covid-19 safety.
  • 53% of people who participated online during the pandemic said the activity was provided by an organisation they had attended physically in the past.
  • 67% said they would be very or quite willing to make a donation or pay-what-you-like contribution to an online cultural collections, archives or library.

Where else Libraries and Literature Audiences engage

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Explore our Findings through the Pandemic:


In-person Attendance

Libraries

Pandemic Attendance
  • 15% of all respondents said they had visited a library since the pandemic began (27% of Metroculturals and 21% of Experience Seekers; 19% of age group 16-24 and 18% of age group 35-44; 16% of urban audiences).
  • Of those that visited a library, 18% did this once, 38% did this 2 or 3 times, 27% did this 4 or 5 times, 17% did this 6 or more times.
  • 2% visited a library for the first time during the pandemic.
Previous Attendance
  • 20% said they were visiting libraries more than they did the year before, 43% said they did it the same amount and 34% said they did it less.
  • Attendance to libraries rose significantly in 2021. 45% of people surveyed visited in 2020, while 84% visited in 2021.
  • Of that latter group, 83% did so in the last two months.
Motivation and Wellbeing
  • The main reasons cited for visiting the library were ‘to relax, take your mind of things’ (30%), ‘to be entertained’ (20%) and ‘to be inspired or stimulated’ (18%).
  • 86% said their expectations were met.
  • 74% said visiting a library had a positive impact on their wellbeing.

Literary Events

Attendance Patterns
  • 7% of all respondents had attended an event connected to books or writing (including readings and literary festivals) since the pandemic began. In the 12 months before the pandemic this figure was 8%.
  • Events connected to books or writing tended to be less local than other activities (26% said the journey was up to 30 mins, 43% said up to 1 hour).
Audience Profiles
Motivation and Wellbeing
  • The most cited reasons for attending were ‘to relax, take my mind of things’ (44%), ‘to be inspired or stimulated’ (36%) and ‘to take part in an activity’ (35%).
  • 76% said the activity met their expectations.
  • 78% found it had positive impact on their wellbeing.

Online Attendance

Pandemic Participation
  • Since the pandemic, just 7% of respondents had used an online cultural collection, archive or library.
  • Of these, 26% of had done this one time, 41% did it 2-5 times and 17% did it 6 or more times.
  • Participation was higher for some Audience Spectrum groups, including 12% of Metroculturals, 10% of Experience Seekers, and 8% of Kaleidoscope Creativity;
  • At 11%, respondents aged 16-24 are the most likely to have participated online.

Previous Participation
  • 41% of respondents had used an online cultural collection, archive or library more before the pandemic, 31% did it the same amount, 12% did it less and 14% did this for the first time during the pandemic.
  • 53% of people who participated online during the pandemic said the activity was provided by an organisation they had attended physically in the past.
  • Participation has actually fallen slightly since the pandemic began, with 69% participating in 2020 and 64% participating in 2021. Of the latter group, 59% had participated in the past two months.
Motivation and Experience
  • The most cited reasons for taking part were ‘to learn something new, pursue new interests’ (41%), ‘to be inspired or stimulated’ (39%) and ‘to relax, take your mind of things’ (36%).
  • 39% of online participants for online collections, archives or libraries rated their experience as very good, while 43% rated it as good.
  • 80% said the experience met their expectations and 75% said it had a positive impact on their wellbeing.
Future Intentions
  • Just 7% of all respondents said they had something specific they wanted to see or do in terms of using online cultural collections, archives or libraries in the future.
  • 24% said they were interested but did not have anything specific they wanted to do yet.
  • 29% they were not particularly interested in these kinds of activities and 32% said they had no interest at all.
Payment and Contribution
  • In terms of payment models, for online cultural collections, archives or libraries, 61% of online audiences said they would be very or quite willing to pay a fixed price for access.
  • 67% said they would be very or quite willing to make a donation or pay-what-you-like contribution.
  • 43% said they would be very or quite willing to take up a paid-for subscription.


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