Journal of Documentation

Purpose – The functional equivalence hypothesis suggests that a new communication medium will replace those activities that most closely perform the same functions for users as did the established media. There is scarce empirical evidence whether use of the internet displaces use of the public library. This survey aims to explore how the use of the internet is associated with the use of the public library for studying, work and business, everyday activities, and leisure activities. The author also studies which factors in addition to internet use predict the use of public libraries for these purposes.

Design/methodology/approach – The data is based on a nationwide representative survey of the adult population in Finland aged 15-79. The author used binary logistic regression analysis for modelling and predicting library use.

Findings – The results show that the use of the internet is positively associated with the use of public libraries. Those using the internet tend also to use the public library. Thus, the use of the internet does not replace the use of the public library, but merely complements it. It is found that the frequency of internet use and the number of books read are the strongest predictors of public library use.

Originality/value – This is the first study to show that the use of the internet for studying, work and business, everyday activities, and leisure activities is not replacing public library use for the same purposes, but merely complementing it.