1. Dan Mount
Head of Policy and Public Affairs
Civic Agenda EU

2. EUROPEAN CONGRESS ON E-INCLUSION
Cross-European Survey
Measuring the impact of ICT in public libraries
Dan Mount
Head of Policy & Public Affairs
Civic Agenda EU

3. Background
BMGF Global Libraries Programme
Pan-European challenges
EU 2020 Growth Strategy + MFF 2014-2020
Policy review
o Non-formal and informal learning
o Social inclusion (key target groups)
o Digital inclusion – delivering a digital single market

4. Why did we need a cross-European
Survey?
 Public libraries are traditionally invisible in relation to EU
policy making (except in the field of Culture and Books)
 EU 2020 Growth Strategy + MFF 2014 – two references to
public libraries in 4000 pages
 Recent existing EU policy reference points:
o 2011 – Gdansk Roadmap
o 2011 – Renewed Agenda for Adult Learning
o 2012 – Draft Parliamentary Resolution on the Cultural
& Creative Sectors
o 2013 – IPTS report on ICT and employability

5. Building the evidence base
 Policy-makers need data
 TNS survey – 17 EU Member States (80% population)
o Focus: library users, computer users and representative
sample of population
o Respondents – 15 years +
o Qualitative and quantitative data collected
 65,000 public libraries across the EU
o 80% of these offer free access to computers and internet
o Correlation between public library funding and usage rates

6. Key findings
 Nearly 100 Million Europeans visited a public library (23% of
EU population) in the last 12 months
 Nearly 14 million Europeans used their public library to
access the internet and use computers in the last year
 83% of those using free public library computer/internet
services reported a positive benefit in a range of areas:
o Saving them time and money
o Improving their education and skills
o Providing access to government services
o Increasing access to employment and health resources

7. Public libraries – a digital lifeline
 The number of respondents reporting that public
libraries represent their only source of free internet
access is equivalent to the combined population of the
four smallest EU Member States (1.9 million Europeans)
 Respondents with no other options for free internet
access were most likely to be:
o Unemployed
o Over 65 years old
o Disabled
o From a Roma or ethnic minority community

8. Non-formal and Informal Learning
 In the last year 24 million Europeans participated in nonformal/informal learning activities at a public library
 Those engaging in staff-assisted non-formal/informal
learning activities in a public library tended to be:
o Unemployed
o From rural areas
o Over 65 years old
o From a Roma or ethnic minority community
 Last year 2.3 million of these Europeans took part in a
computer class at their public library.

9. Employment
Last year 1.5 million Europeans applied for jobs
using free public library internet and computer
services
A quarter of a million Europeans found work using
free access to computers and the internet at their
local public library

10. Social Inclusion
Young people (15-24) represent the largest
demographic (38%) of public library computer and
internet users
60% of Roma users of public library computers and
internet services did so at least once a week
4.6 million Europeans report that they first used the
internet in a public library

11. Conclusions
 Concrete evidence that public libraries:
o Provide essential services to local communities and key marginalised
and disadvantaged groups
o Offer free access digital resources to those with no other option
o Are attractive spaces for young people to access ICT and the internet
 And that public libraries represent a pre-existing community
infrastructure which can assist with pan-European policy
objectives in relation to:
o
o
o
o
Non-formal and informal learning
Social inclusion
Digital Inclusion
Pathways to employment