Libraries In Spain Research Articles

Public Libraries as Shapers of a Youth Canon

We start with the hypothesis that the library is a fundamental institution in the creation of the youth literary canon. To uphold it, we analyze the process of constructing this canon by examining the titles that are selected from the library, how they are selected and who selects them. The methodology involved the preparation of two surveys and the analysis of 209 responses from public libraries in Spain and 162 from their reading clubs, 19 of youth literature. The data identifies, classifies, analyzes, and compares the titles of the works selected in public libraries: on the one hand, the books that the user chooses to borrow and, on the other hand, those that are read in reading clubs. In the case of the reading clubs, there is a mediation process that we describe and analyze based on the responses to the surveys. The results demonstrate the importance of mediation carried out by librarians and club coordinators to ensure that users engage in diverse and quality reading.

An Overview of Information Instruction in Hospital Libraries in Spain

Introduction: Information instruction is essential to providing support for clinical care, teaching and research in hospitals. In the international literature, little has been published about this function of hospital libraries in Spain. This study examines the education activities of Spanish hospitals.
 Methods: A questionnaire about staff, education activities and institutional recognition was distributed via email to Spanish hospital libraries. The data was analysed in February 2023.
 Results: 84% of libraries provide education activities. The average number education staff is 1.3. Common instruction topics are database searching, citations, researcher identity and scientific journals (quality, impact and publication standards). 83% of libraries are part of the undergraduate medical curriculum, 67% are involved in graduate medical education, and 30% are part of the institutional research plan.

The Life and Works of Don W. Cruickshank (1942–2021)

This article discusses Don Cruickshank’s career and writings on Spain’s seventeenth-century theatre and culture—particularly on Calderón, and on Golden-Age printed plays. Cruickshank also collaborated in two international Projects dedicated to cataloguing thousands of comedias sueltas preserved in archives and libraries in Spain and the USA. Two books, written with Ann Mackenzie, and unfinished when Cruickshank died, are also commented upon. Their monograph on comedias sueltas printed in Seville will hopefully be published before long. Their annotated edition of Fajardo’s previously unprinted Índice de todas las comedias impresas (1717) is now published in the Bulletin of Spanish Studies.

Migrant’s library services: a theoretical and empirical study in Spain with guidelines for their creation

PurposeThe purpose of this research study was to seek new forms of public libraries helping with the integration of migrants. It comprises a comprehensive and up-to-date bibliographic review and an empirical study involving the librarians and native and migrant users of public libraries in Spain leading to the design of guidelines for library services targeted at migrant users that can help foster the integration of this group of the population.Design/methodology/approachThe bibliographic review analyses studies of whether migrant users see the public library as a place of meeting and interchange as well as a fundamental institution providing them with services, meeting their information requirements and offering them challenges and projects. The empirical investigation contrasts this theoretical information by administering three questionnaires (one for librarians, one for native users and one for migrant users, with a total of 45 items) focused on the relationship between public libraries and migration. A total of 20 public libraries over the territory of Spain were selected in accordance with diverse criteria, and a total of 233 completed questionnaires were collected.FindingsThe main results of the empirical research indicate that the greatest proportion of migrant users go to Spain’s public libraries on the recommendation of friends and/or relatives. They use them mainly as a place of study, visiting them at least twice a week, even though the representation of collections and specific services for this group is very sparse (only 5% of the collection of the libraries analysed are in a foreign language). On the other hand, the satisfaction expressed towards both the general services of the libraries and the help provided by their librarians is scored highly, getting mean scores of 4.45 and 4.40 out of 5, respectively.Originality/valueThis work not only includes an exhaustive bibliographic review of the relationship between public libraries and migrant users and an empirical investigation carried out in Spain with librarians, native users and migrant users, but also presents a decalogue of guidelines for the design of a range of services focused on the specific needs of the migrant population, thus favouring their integration in the host country.

The ELALC-SEK Project: Developing English language library classrooms to support literacy learning in the early childhood and primary English language programs at a multilingual Spanish school

Two consultants from Western Kentucky University developed a proposal for and then assisted with the implementation of English Language Arts Library Classrooms in a private Spanish school near Barcelona, Spain. The intent of the project was to enhance the English instruction in the primary grades program at the school. The project involved field observations and a literature review of school libraries in Spain, proposal development, technical assistance, and training in library organization, administration and collection development.

School Libraries, Information Literacy and Reading Promotion Initiatives in Spain

School libraries in Spain have evolved very quickly in recent years. The educational authorities have been approving school library development policies, and this has greatly improved the situation of these libraries in Spain. This paper will discuss three different aspects of school libraries in Spain: their current situation, plans to promote reading, and information literacy activities. First, the current situation of school libraries in Spain will be discussed, based on different types of data relating to these libraries. Second, the information literacy initiatives that are being implemented in Spain will be analyse

School Libraries in Spain

The paper will present the results of a field study accomplished during the course 2004- 2005 at Spanish school libraries (2005), where the search main purpose was to gather and analyze data on seven dimensions: its role in the school; installations: equipment and technologies; collection; staff; management and operation; uses and users; evaluations. The study concludes that, since the last report, school libraries have improved in equipments and collection but this improvement does not match with a bigger and better employ. Another aspect to point out is the scarce use of non-printed material and, specially, Internet.

Actualidad en estudios LibQUAL+®: paradigmas de la biblioteca informativa y social-creadora y cuestión de género como reflejos de la realidad social

Los objetivos de este artículo son cuatro: analizar las principales diferencias en torno a las dimensiones mejor valoradas de tres estudios sobre satisfacción de personas usuarias basados en LibQUAL+® llevados a cabo en bibliotecas universitarias de España, Argentina y Chile; analizar las diferencias atendiendo a la variable de género (hombres y muje­res); determinar si las diferencias en cuanto a género son estadísticamente significativas; y discutir y reflexionar sobre los resultados hallados en el ámbito concreto de las bibliotecas como reflejo de la realidad social en general. Los resultados per­miten concluir que en España las personas usuarias están menos satisfechas con la dimensión de la biblioteca como espacio, mientras que en Latinoamericana se percibe menor grado de satisfacción también con el control de la información. El mayor grado de satisfacción en todos los estudios se da en el valor afectivo del servicio. Las mujeres en España muestran menor satisfacción y mayor exigencia que los hombres en el valor afectivo del servicio. Además, se hallaron diferencias estadísti­camente significativas en el análisis de las medias por género. En la discusión se ponen en relación los resultados hallados con la literatura existente, definiendo los paradigmas posibles de la biblioteca informativa frente al de la social-creadora y la percepción de la satisfacción por géneros según el contexto social en que se hallan las bibliotecas. La limitación principal del artículo es que se basa en tres estudios concretos; y su principal valor y originalidad, que puede considerarse como punto de partida para futuras investigaciones sobre la cuestión de género en lo que a bibliotecas y los servicios que ofrecen se refiere.

Bibliotecas y efecto Pigmalión: la importancia de la interpretación de resultados y otras cuestiones metodológicas a partir de una crítica al Barómetro de hábitos de lectura y compra de libros en España de 2019

This paper presents a critique of the interpretation of the results and some other methodological issues of the 2019 Spanish report on reading Barómetro de hábitos de lectura y compra de libros en España. It is argued that both the methodology and interpretation are essential in any field of knowledge in order to reach valid conclusions that are in accordance with reality. The critique depicts a different scenario regarding the conclusions of the analyzed Spanish report. The categories used for the frequency of reading must be reconfigured. Otherwise, it is difficult not to conclude that people in Spain are avid readers (only by reading at least once a month). On the other hand, if three out of four people in Spain do not use the library, the optimistic conclusion regarding the evaluation rating of the few people who do use libraries should be revised to include the information about those who do not use them. Also, the poor attendance and scarce interest in such use are justified by the fact that public libraries only cover 9.2% of the total reading by the population. Thereafter, two ideas are presented: the first, based on the personal experience of the author of this work, relates to how the evaluation and use of libraries in Spain could be improved by comparison with libraries in other countries; the second suggests that carrying out studies of non-users could be interesting, due to the fact that three out of four people in Spain do not use the library. In conclusion, the misinterpretation of and the definitions of the methodology in the analyzed Spanish report are related to the Pygmalion effect from the field of Pedagogy and Education. Librarians and researchers should be conscious of the real situation of both libraries and reading in Spain, beyond the optimistic conclusions of the 2019 Spanish report on reading.

Museum libraries in Spain: A case study at state level

Special libraries are essential information and documentation centres for university teachers and researchers due to the quality and richness of their collections. In Spain, it is estimated that there are 2456 special libraries, although many are unknown either generally or among information professionals. These include museum libraries, which are important centres with valuable collections of bibliographic heritage for the area of Humanities and Social Sciences. The aim of this research is to gain an understanding of the real state of these information units and promote the social value of museum libraries in Spain. To do this, a survey was sent to the libraries of state-owned and -managed museums under the General Directorate of Fine Arts and Cultural Property (Ministry of Culture and Sports) of the Government of Spain. This general objective will be accompanied by a review of the scientific literature on various aspects of museum libraries at national and international level. After addressing the research methodology, the results obtained will be discussed and will include the following topics: collection management, library services and staff, economic and technological resources and finally, library management. Conclusions include recommendations for museum librarians and reveal that institutional cooperation is a strategic issue to improve both museum libraries visibility and their social recognition as cultural and research centre.

Clubs de lectura en la universidad: mirando a la biblioteca pública

The public library in Spain, in its effort towards reading promotion, has opted for book clubs, both in a face-to-face mode and, as in recent years, virtually or within the cloud. The clubs have proved to be, additionally, as effective tools to constructs groups of people through the socialization of reading. Should we take a look at the public library and its clubs, and adapt them to the university environment? Through the analysis of a selection of experiences developed within Spanish public and university libraries, including the setting up of two clubs in a university context framed by the Research Project “Book clubs as a tool for reading promotion in the academic and school environment” (Solorzano Barruso Foundation FS / S-2017) from the University of Salamanca, it is concluded that for a virtual reading club to work it is necessary to plan rigorously, to choose an appropriate social network that will be utilized, to previously train the coordinator and the readers, to energize conversations and to integrate face-to-face experiences in the virtual club.

Las bibliotecas públicas españolas. Actualización del Informe Fesabid

The latest data published by the Ministry of Culture and Sports on Spanish public libraries, corresponding to the year 2017, are analyzed. They are compared with those of the 2010-2016 period, previously analyzed in the Fesabid Report. Public libraries in Spain: diagnosis after the economic crisis. In 2017, the first signs of recovery in the libraries began to be seen after a period of decline in indicators such as spending and use, which were resented during the economic crisis in Spain. Some trends continue as the greater weight of the local administration in the financing of libraries, responsible for more than three quarters of the expenses, and inter-territorial inequality, which occurs not only among autonomous communities, but also within same community.

Los clubes de lectura en el contexto de las bibliotecas públicas de España. Situación actual y perspectivas de futuro

Los clubes de lectura son una práctica de dinamización lectora muy desarrollada en los últimos años en diversidad de espacios. En este artículo nos preguntamos por su papel en las bibliotecas públicas en España. Hemos realizado una investigación basada en entrevistas y cuestionarios, con gestores y usuarios de bibliotecas, así como con coordinadores y usuarios de clubes de lectura. Los resultados muestran que dichos clubes se consolidan como una práctica más de animación a la lectura, que gozan de aceptación social y cada día surgen nuevos grupos. En el futuro esta práctica requerirá superar retos, como una mayor difusión y diversificación.

Análisis de la presencia de pseudociencia en los catálogos de las bibliotecas públicas españolas

El presente artículo examina la presencia de libros que traten manifestaciones pseudocientíficas como tema principal en los catálogos de las bibliotecas públicas españolas, así como la posición que estas obras toman respecto a la pseudociencia. Se ha creado una base de datos para analizar las cifras tanto relativas como absolutas de textos en todos los catálogos autonómicos. Las cifras muestran un pequeño pero preocupante porcentaje del 0,15% de títulos abordando varias pseudociencias y señalan la astrología como la manifestación más presente en las bibliotecas. El estudio también muestra la amenaza que supone la homeopatía, dado que el número de obras tratando esta pseudoterapia supera en una ratio de 1 a 20 las obras referentes a la quimioterapia.

New Strategies in Library Services Organization: Consortia University Libraries in Spain

New political, economic, and technological developments, as well as the growth of information markets, in Spain have created a foundation for the creation of library consortia. The author describes the process by which different regions in Spain have organized university library consortia.

Usuarios en vulnerabilidad social: ¿por qué y para qué generar capital cultural desde la biblioteca?

International and Spanish scholarship on the social role of libraries for people at a social disadvantage are summarized. Current initiatives in public libraries in Spain are presented along with an analysis of some of the library services that have been developed, including an example from Zagreb City Library .

Bibliotecas para jóvenes: superando un cliché heredado

With the failure of school libraries in Spain and public libraries that are more targeted to adult patrons, it seems that the library authorities have forgotten about services to adolescents. The specific needs of young people aged between 14 and 18 years are not being met. It is proposed that the successful information commons (or resource centers for learning and research, as they are known in Spain) of the universities be made available to non-college youth through cooperation agreements with public administration.

ROI en medios sociales: campañas de marketing en bibliotecas

Organizations should include social media marketing as a part of a digital marketing plan. Traditionally the benefits obtained fromsocial media marketing have been associated with not economical ROI, i.e., social ROI (return on influence, return on relationships, return on collaboration, reputation, branding, etc.). This study addresses the use of digital marketing campaigns by libraries for social profitability, i.e., obtaining conversions to more readers and more circulation. Concepts related to digital marketing and social media marketing, and the way different types of organizations, business and libraries use them in order to get ROI, are reviewed. The marketing benefits for libraries are presented, along with three case studies about promotion and marketing campaigns in university libraries in Spain that show how libraries can improve and increase the use of their services and products beyond their expectations with a marketing campaign of only three months.

Efectos de la crisis económica en las bibliotecas españolas

Libraries in Spain, like other institutions, have been affected by the economic crisis. The effects and their consequences are studied in this paper, based on available library statistics. A significant decrease in expenditure for materials, the downgrading of collections, library closures and a growing increase in usage were observed in 2012. Changes in content consumption habits are also highlighted, with special attention to adaptations to digital change. Facts 2012: the operating costs of Spanish libraries amounted to 990.1 million euros (+0.54% compared to 2010); if the increase in the CPI is taken into account, the cost increase is actually 5%. Personnel expenses represent 66.9%. Public libraries (PLs) reported 594 fewer employees than in 2010 and there were 154 fewer in academic libraries (-5.6% and -2.6%, respectively). The PLs incorporated 3.5 million volumes (-31.2% compared to 2010). Visits to libraries: Total 216.4 million (in PLs +20.5% / 2010); 401 libraries (20%) did not have computers for public use and 46.5% had no opac yet.

Educación sin biblioteca

Overview of the development of the school library, and the role and educational services of the public library, in the period 1989-2011, the years of existence of the Educación y biblioteca journal (Education and library). School libraries failed to become established in the pre-university context and in 2010 still had no firm structure. There have been and still are experiences and best practices, but the reports published over those two decades show the precariousness of the school library in Spain. Public libraries grew and transformed themselves but failed to develop, or only poorly developed, educational services for citizens no longer pursuing an official education. However, they presented a strong offering across the entire spectrum of sociocultural activities: reading clubs, storytelling, conferences and workshops to train people on the use of new technologies.