News You Can Use: Why Is Amazon a “Library” for GenZ and Millennials? And What Should Librarians Do About It?

Researchers Berens and Noorda offer an overview of the data and practical suggestions for making public libraries a convenient, legitimate first-stop resource for mobile-first GenZ and Millennials seeking free access to books.

New survey data from Immersive Media and Books 2022 suggests that Millennials and GenZ Americans (ages 13-41) are poorly informed about how to access public libraries, particularly digital products like ebooks and audiobooks. Instead, GenZ and Millennials turn to Amazon, which sells pirated materials alongside legitimate ones, for access to free products.

The Immersive Media and Books 2022 has found that more than 40% of Gen Z and Millennials don’t use the public library, including digital services.

By contrast, Millennials and GenZ use Amazon at high rates to access free items through the Kindle and Audible apps. Many even sell on Amazon digital book materials they’ve downloaded.

Why did Amazon become a kind of de facto library for GenZ and Millennials? What does it mean for public libraries, and for libraries’ negotiations with publishers about leasing digital products?

Immersive Media and Books 2022 is the second installment of nationally representative book consumption research by Dr. Rachel Noorda and Dr. Kathi Inman Berens. Freely access Immersive Media and Books 2020 here. The 2020 report is cross-generational. 2022 focuses on GenZ and Millennials.

Dr. Rachel Noorda is Director of Book Publishing and Assistant Professor in English at Portland State University. She researches twenty-first century book topics such as entrepreneurship, marketing, small business, national identity, and international publishing. She is the author of Entrepreneurial Identity in U.S. Book Publishing in the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge University Press).

Dr. Kathi Inman Berens is a U.S. Fulbright Scholar of digital culture, former Annenberg Innovation Lab fellow, prize-winning author, and Associate Professor of Book Publishing and Digital Humanities at Portland State University. She is co-editor of the Electronic Literature Collection Volume 4 (launching May 2022), and is writing a monograph about self-publishing.