This article is trying so hard to make an ideological point (out of a survey answer on library bathroom use, mind you) from the simple statistical fact that rural areas are more heavily conservative and traditionally Christian. No, there is no moral, political, or otherwise superiority inherent from using a public library.
As someone who grew up in a rural area (and made extensive use of the local public library), I find some of these claims questionable, if not absurd.
> Apparently, retirement-age folks and Republicans are the least likely to use the library “facilities.”
In my experience, public libraries in rural communities serve as secondary senior centers, offering book clubs and fitness classes for retired adults. Kids and seniors make up the bulk of library patronage as far as I knew, with the runner up being...
> One thing that doesn’t seem to drive most people to libraries? Financial hardship.
Right behind seniors and kids, homeless people are the next big group of library patrons in my town. I think what the author is insinuating with this point is more of a post hoc ergo propter hoc argument.
> Rural libraries and bookmobiles are doing secular-saintly work out there with limited budgets ... [but they] simply can’t provide the exhaustive collection and endless and esoteric services you’ll find at the New York Public Library
That I would agree with, and I think drives the whole divide the title is referring to. I personally spent many, many hours at the public libraries in the counties where I grew up. But by my Junior year of high school, I had pretty much outgrown my public library. All the Dewey decimal blocks that interested me I had already read. Thankfully, the college libraries were nearby and allowed community (non-student) access, so I began spending my time there, instead. To this day, I spend more time in, and check out more materials from college libraries than public libraries. It would be interesting to take any of the analyses presented in this article and see how well they hold up against college library patrons.
Anyway, misleading title thanks to statistical fallacies. Rant mode off.