AP About to Release Results of Young Media Consumers

Read news release.

Key quote: The survey found that young consumers get their news in an irregular fashion, and generally have no ritual of news consumption, like reading the newspaper or watching the evening news every day. However, the survey also found that young people, in addition to facts and updates, wanted the news to be presented with context. "They wanted to find a path to the backstory," said Kennedy. "And they wanted to find a path to what's going to happen next."
(Unlike this 58-year-old retiring guy who still reads the New York Times every morning after my wife and I take a half hour walk and before we go to work. And I get steamed when the paper is delivered late and/or wet. )

If your magazine circulation resembles Middleton's, it's probably safe to say that a significant percentage of library users are migrating to online source of information. (I know I am. Most of these "recommended reading" alerts come to my attention via my RSS feeds, one of the few Project Play classes I "attended".)

Magazines (adult annual circulation)
2007: 12,775
2006: 13,927
2005: 13,072
2004: 13,123

Magazines (YA annual circulation)
2007: 1,274
2006: 1,356
2005: 1,290
2004: 1,181

Magazines (Children's annual circulation)
2007: 886
2006: 1,204
2005: 1,334
2004: 1,138

What's most surprising to me is that YA magzine circ hasn't fallen off a cliff. Credit goes to Rebecca Van Dan, Middleton's Young Adult Services Librarian and her Teen Advisory Committee. They speak; she listens.