Public Library Book Research Articles

Integrating DEI in Public Library Book Clubs

The killing of George Floyd in 2020 propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into the global spotlight, calling attention to the racial inequities still persisting in America. In response, public libraries have hosted anti-racist book clubs as a way to address and discuss pressing issues of social and systemic inequity. These book clubs are often explicitly marketed as “anti-racist” and have been beneficial to the promotion of DEI within their communities. However, regular book clubs hosted by public libraries can and should still integrate DEI within their processes and discussions, even if they do not have an overt anti-racist theme. In this column, I will share the DEI strategies I have successfully embedded in the monthly book club I host at the public library where I work, including how I make title selections and how I have navigated the subsequent discussions. I hope this column is useful for library staff members who are interested in proactively embedding DEI in their libraries’ book club programming.

Aggregate‐Level Analysis of Information Behavior: A Study of Public Library Book Circulation

ABSTRACTInformation behavior research to date has mainly focused specific cases or representative surveys at the individual level, because each individual has unique contexts that shape their behavior. However, they have not fully benefited from aggregate‐level analyses due to mainstream theories' focus on a contextualized understanding of information. To address this gap, we adopt the theory of local information landscapes, that focuses on the material aspects of community dynamics, and analyze national‐level aggregate data on book circulations in public libraries across South Korea. By examining the relationship between socioeconomic status and public library book circulation, we discuss the potential to develop scalable theories and relevant data‐driven approaches in information behavior research.

Assessment of Socio-Economic Adaptability to Ageing in Resource-Based Cities and Its Obstacle Factor

The resource-based city is a type of city with pronounced ageing problems. Correctly grasping the socio-economic adaptability to ageing in resource-based cities can help actively guide the direction of urban development and build a new socio-economic order for the elderly. This paper first selects 125 resource-based cities in China from 2000 to 2020 for characteristic analysis, and finds that resource-based cities are characterized by fast growth rate and a large proportion of ageing population, deep ageing, large regional differences and uncoordinated ageing development with regional socio-economic development levels. The research objective of this article is to explore the temporal evolution characteristics, spatial patterns, agglomeration characteristics, and factors hindering the socio-economic adaptability to ageing in resource-based cities in China from 2000 to 2020. Therefore, an indicator system for assessing the socio-economic adaptability to ageing was constructed, and the improved entropy-weighted TOPSIS model was used to measure the socio-economic adaptability to ageing in 113 resource-based cities in China from 2000 to 2020. The spatio-temporal variation characteristics of the socio-economic adaptability to ageing in resource-based cities were analyzed by descriptive analysis and Moran’s index, and the main obstacle dimensions and obstacle indicators were clarified by the obstacle factor model. The findings can be summarized as follows: Temporal Analysis: Over the timeframe assessed, the socio-economic adaptability of ageing in resource cities demonstrates a consistent year-on-year improvement. The spatial clustering pattern exhibits a noteworthy trend of “significant-significant-insignificant”. Spatial Pattern: Examining the spatial arrangement from 2000 to 2020, areas with medium-low and low adaptability are prominently concentrated in Eastern China and Northeastern China, while regions with medium-high and high adaptability are focal in Northern China and Eastern China. Hebei Province and its neighboring provinces consistently display H-H clustering, contrasting with the Southwestern regions that persistently exhibit L-L clustering. Obstacle Degree Analysis: Across the 2000 to 2020 period, dimensions related to economic development, social participation, and social security consistently emerge as the primary obstacles. Notably, the top 12 average annual obstacle indicators are selected, and within economic development dimension all 4 indicators predominate as the key obstacles. Within the social participation dimension, tertiary sector value added and total retail sales of consumer goods per capita feature as primary obstacles. Regarding social security, impediments are primarily associated with the ratio of Medicare coverage, the ratio of pension coverage, alongside the development level of the social security sector. In the domain of service provision, key obstacle indicators include park area per capita, number of books in public libraries per 100 inhabitants, and public trams and buses per 10,000 inhabitants.

Spatial–temporal pattern of urban ecological construction in the Yellow River basin and its optimization and promotion paths

IntroductionUrban ecological instruction is an important method of sustainable development that couples the needs of the population and the environment, thus facilitating high-quality development. This study aimed to transform existing large-scale considerations of ecological urban construction to provide a more grounded evaluation framework. We constructed an integrated framework that considers economic, environmental, social, cultural, and ecological factors and their contribution to urban ecological construction.MethodsWe used methods of subjective and objective empowerment, exploratory spatial data analysis, and the obstacle degree model to explore spatiotemporal variations in urban ecological construction.ResultsOur results showed that: (1) From 2006 to 2018, urban ecological construction in the Yellow River basin (YRB) exhibited a “polycentric” spatial differentiation pattern and a significant, gradually decreasing “center-periphery” spatial distribution trend. (2) High–high areas (with high agglomeration and high urban ecological construction) in the YRB are mainly distributed in Shandong Province and the adjacent regions, whereas low–low areas are mainly distributed in south–central Ningxia Province and southern Gansu Province. (3) Analysis of urban ecological construction characteristics across different city scales, functional types, spatial carriers, and basin locations shows that the urban ecological construction level is directly proportional to the scale of the city. The level of urban ecological construction is relatively higher in the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, in the priority development area of the North China Plain, and in the downstream and right bank of the YRB. Spatial differences are mainly controlled by the net difference between regions from the upstream and midstream scales, as well as intra-regional differences between the left and right banks. (4) Marked differences can be observed in the obstacles to ecological construction in different types of cities.DiscussionTypical barriers in cities in the YRB include the total water resources per capita, energy consumption per unit of GDP, the proportion of research and development investment in fiscal expenditure, the number of books in public libraries per 10,000 people, and land use efficiency. In the future, urban ecological construction should be based on the development conditions of each individual city, and should be improved according to local conditions to achieve the construction high-quality ecological cities.

Library books as environmental management capacity building opportunities exclude most South African languages

Social inclusion in South Africa’s environmental management remains a concern regardless of equality being enshrined in the country’s environmental management policy. This policy makes provisions for citizens to be afforded equal opportunities to learn about the environment and develop capacity to participate in environmental management. As South Africa is a multilingual country where most of the population does not use English as their primary language, environmental capacity development opportunities should ideally be linguistically accessible to all citizens to avoid perpetuating the pre-democratic exclusion of the languages spoken by most of the population of African descent. Given that public libraries play a role in promoting democracy, the books they catalogue are assumed to provide environmental management capacity development opportunities. Here we use the language of publication of public library books as an indicator for assessing the role of native South African languages in promoting environmental management opportunities. The books from South African public libraries considered in this study’s sample were found to provide environmental management capacity development opportunities in mostly English. Dominance of English in these capacity development opportunities excludes many citizens as most South Africans do not use English as their primary language. This study argues that such exclusion is at odds with South Africa’s inclusive environmental management policy and decreasing exclusion will require actions that support policy by encouraging publishing in Indigenous languages and elevating the status of marginalised languages.

Attack by a Turkey: Learning to Write History from Bernard Bailyn

Attack by a Turkey: Learning to Write History from Bernard Bailyn

Study on Spatial–Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Restrictive Factors of Urban–Rural Integration in Northeast China from 2000 to 2019

With the rapid development of urbanization and the widening gap between urban and rural areas, how to effectively enhance the balanced development of urban and rural areas as well as promote the integrated development of urban and rural areas have become heated topics. Based on the basic theory of urban–rural integration and spatial balance, this paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation system. Using a coupling coordination model and an obstacle degree model, this paper selects 32 indicators from aspects of economy, society and ecology to measure the development level of urban–rural integration in 34 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China from 2000 to 2019. We also analyze the spatial pattern, evolution type characteristics and obstacle factors of urban–rural relations. The results show that: (1) The growth rate of urban development in Northeast China is higher than that of rural development. Except for rural ecology, all dimensions of urban and rural areas have increased year by year, but there are large spatial differences within the region. (2) The urban–rural integration development level of Northeast China is growing constantly and the types of urban and rural coordination are all rising to a higher level. Areas with high urban–rural coordination levels are concentrated in the Harbin–Changchun urban agglomeration and the central and southern Liaoning urban agglomeration, with obvious agglomeration effects. (3) In the coordinated development of urban and rural areas, the restrictive degree of the rural social subsystem was higher than that of the urban subsystem. The restrictive factors in the coordinated development of urban and rural areas are relatively stable, and include per capita consumption expenditure, per capita public budget expenditure, books in public libraries per thousand people, etc. (4) The functions of rural social elements should be enhanced, and the social urban–rural integrated development mechanism should be established to promote the integrated development of urban and rural society.

Analysis of Borrows Demand for Books in Public Libraries Considering Cultural Characteristics

Analysis of Borrows Demand for Books in Public Libraries Considering Cultural Characteristics

The use and promotion of adapted books in Norwegian public libraries

Public libraries offer a large selection of books. For many library users, one of the highlights of the library visit is to explore this collection in search of interesting books that will provide enriching literary experiences. For some people, however, mainstream books might not be motivating to read, for instance, due to reading impairments, language challenges or inaccessible content. Consequently, most libraries also hold a collection of ‘special books’. In Norway, one example of such a collection is the books developed by the association Books for Everyone. This article explores the organization and promotion of adapted books in Norwegian libraries and is based on two datasets. The first dataset comprises the complete production by Books for Everyone, consisting of 232 titles. These books were examined to get an overview of the material commonly found in Norwegian public libraries, with a focus on the allocation of adaptation types and target groups. This dataset showed a diverse collection of books in six different categories. The majority was in the category ‘Easy to Read’, targeted at a broad variety of user groups. The second dataset consisted of survey data from 178 libraries regarding their organization and promotion of the Books for Everyone collection. The data revealed differences in how public libraries utilize these books, due to, for instance, a lack of knowledge about adapted books and potential target groups. Moreover, for many libraries, these books were regarded as ‘special books’ and were consequently not included in exhibitions or book talks. It may be necessary to pay more attention towards adapted literature in the library community and provide more knowledge about this literature among librarians. The overall purpose of this article is to provide some advice to librarians and other practitioners on how to deal with adapted books in a public library context.

Silencing Stories: Challenges to Diverse Books

This research expands on a previous discourse analysis of censorship on challenges to diverse books through more robust analysis of the challenge cases. The article specifically focuses on two common themes found in the arguments that book challengers give for the redaction, restriction, relocation, and removal of diverse titles in and from school curricula, school libraries, and public library collections in the U.S. The article begins with a working definition of diverse books and a brief overview of the campaign to increase their publication and circulation in the U.S. An overview of previous research on general book challenges and challenges to diverse literature is provided, as well as the methodology for analysis. The article concludes with a discussion of recommendations for protecting access to diverse books in public libraries and schools.

On Literacy

On Literacy Yona Harvey (bio) ·Slick, black olives eaten straight from the can—above the golden armor of a breeched hub, her faceglimmered—the lid tilted toward one side & untorn. She was in first grade & learningwhat letters nestled against one another could do. She didn'tunderstand every word in the pocket-sized primer her teacher gave her to take home, but she was excited about soundingout, uttering the short, declaratory sentences betweenslurping meat-like flesh. She didn't know olives were for salads or pizzas. Tapenade was a word to be devouredin her adult years. What olives & uttering had to do with one anothershe did not know. The words made her believe she could dive deeply into the hollows of a fruit & hide. She could slipinto the bedarkenedness & imagine herself tiny, glidingupon a perishable slide or tilt-a-whirl of rubber tire–like shadows. Who pitted that melanonic flesh? ·What she read, she could become. [End Page 51] ·Her world was quiet. Her world was awayfrom her mother who minded her younger sister& patched worn jeans at the kneecaps & contemplatedthe next hurried meal. She was learning what it meantto retreat with an uncustomary snack in a far corner reading a book. ·She was learning ritual. ·She didn't miss the school building with its communal sinks & sharedwater fountains & teacher-appointed line leaders & returned homea little more resilient than when she'd left that morning. ·She was learning solitude. ·Do you know the lure of being read to? Mrs. Moore, the librarian, read toeach class that visited the school library. The children tried hard not tofidget as they sat in the orange-carpeted kiva, fashioned after thedwellings of the Pueblan people, though the children were in southernOhio & not the American Southwest. At the end of storytime thechildren raced to the display table hoping to check out one of the books. ·If you want to enter the tunnel, turn to page seven. If you want to go backto the river, turn to page thirteen. Those trendy Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books faded. She grew older, hungrier. She couldn't helppeeking ahead. & anyway, the boys were always first to grab those books& get to the front of the check-out line. ·But there were other boys. Cassie Logan's brothers, Stacey & Little Man.& James & the Giant Peach. [End Page 52] ·Before the girl's neighborhood was developed with new houses, it was adairy farm. She once caught tadpoles & toads near the creek & dodgedgarter snakes in the short grasses. Every summer, hot air balloonsflooded the sky in a great race. Once, the girl & her friends ran beneath aballoon until its wide-bottomed basket of two passengers hit the dust ofa dry, empty lot. The heavy, hissing of hot air was like a kind of breathing.No gigantic insects arguing in the basket, though. ·The thickest books were the best because reading them made the girl feel older.She could eat an entire bag of potato chips while reading. Whowouldn't fall for a giant peach? Could she take a bite when she felthungry? If the bite were too big, would the peach sink to the ground? ·Her parents didn't buy her many books. They were often adding &subtracting. Subtracting again. The girl's mother took her to the library afew times. ·Memory was not judgment. She was never good at math. ·A library on wheels? The plastic book protectors crackling in her arms?The public library's Book Mobile parked at the school's curb. ·Mrs. Tipper distributed the flimsy, Scholastic newsprint sheets to theclass. The girl's mother gave her daughter two dollars to spend, whichmeant the girl could afford one or two books. She skimmed the catalog'sbook cover images and read the book descriptions. The tally sheet wasfilled with erasures—one selection swapped for another & then another.Add & subtract. Add & subtract. The girl finally settled on one, & hermother gave her the money to take back to school. When the thinpaperback arrived in a few weeks...

Evaluating the impact of the public library book collection: a case study of two public libraries in Cape Town

This paper reports the preliminary findings of an investigation into the impact on a sample group of 100 respondents of using the book collection in two public libraries in Cape Town. It is particularly concerned with the benefits of leisure reading as measured through an impact study using a questionnaire based on generic learning outcomes as proposed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council of the United Kingdom. These outcomes cover the following domains: knowledge and understanding; skills; attitudes or values; enjoyment, inspiration and creativity; activity, behaviour or progression. The findings are presented and discussed and the conclusion is drawn that a range of benefits were experienced and reported in overwhelming numbers by the participants in the study.

Terms of Circulation of Books in Public Libraries. Transformation of Demand

The article analyzed the main reasons of significant reduction of demand for the services of public libra-ries of Russia from 1980 to 2014. There are revealed the factors preventing reduction of the capacity of market of the cultural goods.

Librarian or counsellor?: a pilot study of the experiences of library staff in one healthy reading scheme in Ireland

Background: Book prescription schemes and healthy reading schemes place self-help books in public libraries to assist in the treatment of mild to moderate mental illness. Research has highlighted that library staff play an active role in the success of this initiative.Aims: To conduct a pilot study of the professional experiences of the library staff of Clare County Healthy Reading scheme as they deal with the therapeutic demands of the reading public.Method: A preliminary questionnaire was developed and distributed among the staff members. In total, 12 completed questionnaires were returned and analysed.Result: Despite their lack of training and support from statutory mental health services, library staff affirmed their belief in the benefits of healthy reading schemes. Library staff also maintained a clear understanding of their role as gatekeepers but not as therapeutic advisors to the reading public.Conclusion: Despite the serious restrictions to mental health services in Clare, library staff did not believe that their role was to ‘fill in the gap’ in terms of providing mental health assistance to the reading public.

Banish the Books: Horatio Alger, Jr., the Censors, the Libraries, and the Readers, 1870–1910

This study of a late nineteenth century book banning episode focuses on juvenile author Horatio Alger, Jr., and on the relationship between advocacy rhetoric and verifiable outcomes. By investigating user behavior as associated with library holdings and loan transactions the effectiveness of the campaign can be ascertained. A survey of public library book catalogs reveals that the number of Alger holdings stayed remarkably stable during the period. Muncie, Indiana’s database of loan transactions confirms Alger as the most frequently borrowed author. Censorship activity, while drawing public attention, failed to significantly alter either library holdings or children’s reading patterns.

Stock management in public libraries: recent and current research.

The stock is one of the key assets of public library
 services, fundamental to the delivery of their
 objectives, and its management is central to the
 effective management of public library
 authorities. The introduction of the UK
 Government's 'Best Value' initiative, part of its
 programme for modernising local government,
 involves the questioning of all policies and
 practices: it will mean further critical examination
 of stock management and an important research
 role. Those who hoped that the library
 supply industry would have stabilised in the years
 following the demise of the Net Book Agreement
 and Library Licence have been disappointed. more study is needed into then selection, acquisition and management of
 materials other than books in public libraries. Best
 practice needs to be shared. Replication of
 the survey of American Association
 of Publishers and the American Library
 Association could provide a valuable context for
 future studies of the trade.

“Best read books” in Slovenian public libraries

ABSTRACTThe paper investigates hundred most borrowed books in public libraries in perspective of some trends in reading habits and general mission of public libraries. It introduces genres and quality of most borrowed books in Slovenian public libraries.The research was based on one hundred »best read« monographs in Slovenian public libraries during the six year period. The analyzed data from the database conducted by Institute of Information Science since 2002 include all public libraries which use the COBISS.SI system and have automated borrowing.The »best read« books show big qualitative differences among most borrowed titles. Opposed to few artistic literature titles, the majority of borrowed books are popular literature. The first type of literature represents obligatory reading titles in secondary school system. The list of »best read« books indicates that the majority of users’ interest sare moving apart from public libraries strategic aims.

The institutionalization of Japanese comics in US public libraries (2000–2010)

In the past ten years, Japanese comics, known as ‘manga’, have become institutionalized within key cultural sites in US culture – specifically the public library and local chain bookstore. In this article, I examine how this popular Japanese culture has become embedded within the everyday lives of Americans – particularly American teens – through its increased visibility and availability in US public and high-school libraries. To chart the increasingly prominent presence of manga books in public libraries since the year 2000, I draw on data I collected through conducting in-depth interviews with and administering online surveys to librarians located all over the United States. Importantly, I also examine the question of what it means to incorporate international cultures into mainstream American consumer and print culture. What does the process of Americanization (or ‘localization’) of manga mean for how this visual culture is received by its readers? If manga becomes embedded in these domestic cultural sites, is it received as an ‘international’ culture, and is it marked as ‘Japanese’ or even ‘foreign’ in certain ways? Finally, I examine how the material object, the manga book itself, has troubled easy classification and categorization in local libraries in productive ways.

A Survey of Fungal Contamination on Books in Public Libraries with Mechanical and Natural Ventilation

Libraries are very propitious environments for the growth of fungi. The great concentration of organic material available for these microorganisms, and often with the lack of adequate ventilation or climate control, would favour this situation. This study was conducted in 2003 to determine the predominant genera of fungi in public libraries by a survey of fungi contaminating the upper surface of books, with and without air conditioning in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, in the winter and summer, during the respective periods with high and low levels of airborne fungi in that city. Six libraries were chosen, located on the campus of the University of São Paulo, three of them with air conditioning and the other three with natural ventilation. In these six libraries, 31 genera of fungi were identified in total. The genera and frequency of contaminant fungi recovered differed significantly between the libraries with and without air conditioning and in the samples collected in the summer as opposed to the winter. Cladosporium was the most frequent in the libraries with and without air conditioning, and in the winter. Aspergillus was isolated more often in the summer.

THE FORMATION OF POPULAR LIBRARY AREAS AND A PROPOSAL OF IT'S COLLECTIONS

The purpose of this study is to show that the method of zoning an open shelf floor with a popular library area is more reasonable and effective at public libraries. According to this method an open shelf floor is divided into two zones at public libraries. One is an “active zone” which consists of a popular library area with a children's book area, a newspaper and magazines' area and an AV materials' area. The other is a “quiet zone” which consists of other adults' book area with a reference area. In this paper, the results are as follows: There are two ways to arrange adults' books in public libraries in Japan. One is to arrange adults' books in NDC numerical order is to arrange some books selected from adults' books arranged in the order. Especially, in the latter, many libraries select and arrange only books of in NDC, but, recently some of public libraries select and arrange books according to themes of our daily life and form a zone with either a magazine's area or a children's book area, or both of them. This fact shows that users have demands for increasing popular library books and for providing an active zone. Some themes of collections in a popular library were grouped by researching how to be arranging the practical books at bookstores. They consist of a daily life, a social life, hobbies and amusements, and so on.