A Study on the Factors Contributing to Small Church Libraries’ Revitalization

Abstract

본 연구는 교회의 작은도서관의 현황과 특성을 파악하고 운영 활성화 방안을 제안하기 위함이다. 교회도서관 현황은 매우 열악한 수준이었으며, 교회도서관 운영 활성화 요인 분석 결과, 보유 장서수가 운영활성화 수준에 가장 큰 영향을 미치고 있었다. 규모, 인력, 이용현황에 대한 군집 분석 결과, 극소수의 도서관만이 우수한 수준을 보였다. 따라서 교회도서관의 운영 활성화 방안으로 첫째, 교회도서관의 운영 목적과 목표를 뚜렷이 정하고, 안정된 운영예산과 운영을 책임질 수 있는 전담 인력과 직원을 확보해야 한다. 둘째, 교회시설을 활용하여 도서관의 특성에 맞는 프로그램 개발, 독서의 질을 높일 수 있는 양질의 지식콘텐츠를 서비스해야 한다. 셋째, 도서관 협력 네트워크를 활용한 타도서관과의 상호대차, 순회사서 시스템을 활용할 수 있어야 하고, 적극적인 마케팅 활동으로 지역주민들이나 교인들에게 홍보해야 한다. 또한 목회자와 책임운영자는 헌신과 봉사의 마음으로 지역사회에 서비스해야한다.In order to explore the exact current status and features of small church libraries and suggest implications on how to facilitate their operations, this study has analyzed general conditions of their current operations. Firstly, all aspects of facilities, books, and people of small church libraries, the three elements of libraries, have turned out to be under poor conditions compared to small regular libraries. Secondly, out of all factors that encourage the use of church libraries, the number of retained books in libraries appears to be most influential. Thirdly, it is shown in the results of an analysis on each category group that most church libraries are under poor conditions and only few of them are excellent in terms of the current status of their sizes, labor forces, and users. Based upon these findings, this study suggests implications on facilitating church library operations as follows. First of all, it is highly crucial to have full-time workers and professional staffs who can set aims or purposes of church libraries and be in charge of stable management of budget and library operations. Secondly, it is also important to develop programs suitable for each library’s features and knowledge contents to improve the quality of reading experience. Thirdly, through utilizing library cooperative networks, interlibrary loan or librarian rotation systems should be available. Also, through proactive marketing activities, libraries should be promoted to local communities or church members. Lastly, the most significant part for facilitating church library operations is passions of pastors and chief operators in charge. They need to be willing to contribute to their local communities with their dedications and commitments.