WASHINGTON - More than half of Americans visited a library in the past year with many of them drawn in by the computers rather than the books, according to a survey released today.

Of the 53 per cent of US adults who said they visited a library in 2007, the biggest users were young adults aged 18 to 30 in the tech-loving group known as Generation Y, the survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project said.

"These findings turn our thinking about libraries upside down," said Leigh Estabrook, a professor emerita at the University of Illinois and co-author of a report on the survey results.