By Emma Cueto

A new Pew Research study just came out with some surprising facts. Apparently, people love libraries. Like, even people who don’t go to libraries think that they’re really cool. Even more surprising, two thirds of Americans report they have high or medium engagement with their local libraries. And although old people are the ones leaving libraries their fortunes, 30 percent of library users are young people. So for all those civic-minded book lovers who see nothing but doom and gloom on our collective reading horizon, think again.

Other interesting facts: Most library-visiting people people are engaged in other aspects of their community, too — they’re more likely to socialize with friends and to know their neighbors. People who don’t use libraries, on the other hand, are more likely to exhibit “lower levels of technology use, fewer ties to their neighbors, lower feelings of personal efficacy, and less engagement with other cultural activities.”

Read the full article here.

Must see: Library at the Freie Universität in Berlin by Norman Foster

Must see: A combined public library and swimming pool

[via Bostjan Mur in Ljubljana, Slovenia]