Evaluation of rural public library collection through capacity and usage parameters: A special reference to Bangalore Rural district of Karnataka

Abstract

Rural areas across the country continue to face economic and societal challenges. Rural public libraries are a good meeting place for the rural public, even if they are not as crowded as urban public libraries. This article focuses on the evaluation and development of rural public library collections based on their capacity and usage. The collection, user usage, and needs of 84 rural public libraries in Karnataka's Bangalore Rural District were assessed. It was discovered that rural public libraries require additional periodicals and information resources. The majority of the collection is fiction, and other subject resources such as subject-oriented books, children's books, competitive books, agriculture, and health books are scarce. The collection contains 94.44% of the resources in the Kannada language and other language books to be purchased based on local needs. English language books must be purchased to expose pupils to the globally communicated language.