A surprisingly high proportion of Americans still get their books the old-fashioned way -- at the library. While only 17 percent of library users say they go to use the Internet, 81 percent simply go to take out books.

• A Gallup poll commissioned by the American Library Association has found that 64 percent of Americans visited a library at least once last year -- up from 51 percent in 1978.

• Two-thirds of Americans hold a library card and one in 10 visited a library 25 times or more last year.

• About half of library visitors will read a newspaper or consult reference books.

• Nearly 90 percent of survey respondents consider public libraries as valuable as or more valuable than other tax-supported services.

Four out of five Americans making more than $60,000 a year hold a library card. But only half of those making less than $20,000 have cards. Between those two extremes, card ownership rises steadily with income.

Benjamin Franklin set up the first public library in America in 1731.