Which Generation Visits Farmington's Barney Library The Most? The Results Are In

FARMINGTON, CT — Which generation was most represented among visitors to Farmington's Barney Library this summer?

Library staff decided to find out with a colorful experiment tied to the library's "Throwback Summer."

Visitors were asked to place a colored pom-pom into a jar corresponding to their generation.

With the results now counted, Generation Alpha — children born from 2013 through 2024 — finished far ahead of the competition.

Generation Alpha recorded 237 pom-poms, followed by Millennials, born from 1981 through 1996, with 149.

Generation X (1965-1980) finished third with 49 pom-poms, followed by Generation Z (1997-2012) with 41 and Baby Boomers (1946-1964) with 38.

The youngest group, Generation Beta (2025-today), recorded 16 pom-poms, while the Silent Generation (1928-1945) had nine.

"To no one's surprise, those Gen Alpha Kids and their Millennial parents blew away the competition!" the library said in announcing the results.

The final tally was:

• Generation Alpha: 237
• Millennials: 149
• Generation X: 49
• Generation Z: 41
• Baby Boomers: 38
• Generation Beta: 16
• Silent Generation: 9

Altogether, visitors contributed 539 pom-poms to the project.

The informal activity was designed to give the library a snapshot of the generations visiting during its Throwback Summer programming rather than to serve as a scientific measurement of overall library use.