Significantly more women than men use Cumbria County Council libraries new research has shown.
Library Service membership figures show that women make up 66 per cent of users despite accounting for only 51 per cent of the county's population.
The research, which is being used by the county council to attract more people into Cumbrian libraries from groups who currently tend not to use library services, also shows that:
- Only 10 per cent of library users are aged between 15 and 29 despite making up around 20 per cent of the Cumbrian population;
- The black and minority ethnic community in Cumbria make good use of the county's library services ;
- Older people make up the vast majority of mobile library users.
- According to lifestyle and income date, most library users in Cumbria are likely to be Wealthy Achievers (the highest demographic classification) and less likely to be Hard Pressed (the lowest demographic classification).
Councillor Roger Bingham, cabinet member responsible for the county's Library Service, said: "This information is already being used to shape and develop policies which will hopefully attract more people to use the county's Library Services.
"In particular, we are focusing on younger library users through family reading days and book groups for youngsters of all ages which will hopefully encourage a life-long habit of of library use.
"In addition to this, we have also begun a pilot scheme to increase accessibility to the county's mobile library service. Under the new 'community led' scheme mobile libraries in selected areas are providing fewer individual stops, enabling them to stay open for longer in places where accessing library services is currently difficult.
"We will be repeating this analysis, using the most up to date information, to see how the profile of library users is changing over time as these policies begin to take effect."
ENDS
Media enquiries to Mark Graham, Media Officer on 01228-606337