What students really do in libraries: From texting and Facebook to online shopping, just 18% of time is spent actually READING

Distractions: According to new research, college students spend just 18per cent of their time in the library actually reading

Distractions: According to new research, college students spend just 18per cent of their time in the library actually reading

They may be for borrowing books, but a new study has found that just 18 per cent of college students spend their library time reading.

Instead, they use it to browse social media websites, text friends, shop online and even sleep.

According to research by Lawrence T Paretta and Amy Catalano, while reading school-related printed material is the most common behavior at libraries, it is closely followed by perusing Facebook and social media, which accounts for 11.4per cent of library time.

The internet proved to be a source of distraction among the 730 students observed at two universities in Long Island, New York.

Overall they spent 9.3per cent of their time at the library visiting non-educational and game websites.

Only 4.9per cent of students' time was spent looking at educational websites, and 5.9per cent was used to view online library materials.

The findings were published in The Reference Librarian, which can be read in full on Taylor and Francis Online.

The research was conducted over several weeks during fall 2011. It concluded a week before final examinations began, so as to accurately capture typical study behaviors.

Other behaviors observed in the libraries were sleeping (0.7per cent), reading news websites (2.6per cent) and watching YouTube videos (2.1per cent).

The primary question researchers sought to answer was 'Are students engaging in social media and other non-study behaviors more often than they are studying?'

HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS SPEND THEIR TIME IN THE LIBRARY

  • Reading print material (18.8%)
  • Perusing social media (11.4%)
  • Visiting non-educational websites (9.3%)
  • Viewing online library materials (5.9%)
  • Working collaboratively (5.6%)
  • Texting (4.1%)
  • Reading news websites (2.6%)
  • Watching YouTube videos (2.1%)
  • Shopping online (1.1%)
  • Sleeping (0.7%)

While reading was found to be the most common activity, the study revealed that students are distracted by a multitude of other diversions during their library visits.

Of the 730 students, 95 were observed multi-tasking, with listening to music the most common second activity they were engaged in.

Working collaboratively on school-related projects accounted for just 5.6per cent of library time.

Unsurprisingly, 73per cent of students who were working on computers were distracted by non-study activities, compared to just 44per cent of those not using computers.

The study also revealed that Mondays are the most productive day in terms of students' library use, while Thursdays and Fridays are the days when non-study behavior is most prevalent.