Opinions of children regarding their needs and use for children library: user expectation survey in Varanasi

Authors

Navneet Kumar Sharma, Department of Library and Information Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.Follow

Date of this Version

8-1-2018

Document Type

Article

Citation

1. IFLA. (2003). Guidelines for Children’s Library Services.
2. Indian Public Library Standards- Guidelines (2003). Bureau of Indian Standards.New Delhi, 2003.
3. Jill Beard, Penny Dale, (2010) "Library design, learning spaces and academic literacy", New Library World, Vol. 111 Issue: 11/12, pp.480-492.
4. Learning Commons in BC, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StlDhPJ9Upg, retrieved August 20, 2017)
5. Mark Bilandzic, Marcus Foth, (2013) "Libraries as coworking spaces: Understanding user motivations and perceived barriers to social learning", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 31 Issue: 2, pp.254-273.
6. The Public Library Service – IFLA / UNESCO Guidelines for development, 2001
7. UNICEF. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child Labor, 4.

Abstract

Purpose- The vital part of society that decides how the world will be after some years is ‘child’. Child care and nurturing become the focus point for any society. Due to lack of money, they are deprived of good education and other basic facilities of life. In India, rural community faces more problems in delivering proper education and basic facilities to the children than urban one. If we can make good changes in a child’s life, then eventually it will help in shaping a better world in future. Libraries can help in shaping a better future for a child. Children libraries not only support the basic education but also extracurricular activities for the overall development of the child. In the light of changing information and communication technology, children libraries should also need to change their policies and strategies. This paper aims at bringing the expectations from children about children libraries in terms of infrastructure, library hours, information source, events etc.

Methodology- To get the expectation of children, a survey is done with the help of questionnaire on 150 children in the vicinity of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Convenience sampling is done to get primary data. Percentage method is used for data representation and analysis.

Research limitations- This research is limited to the children residing in the vicinity of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. The data is collected from the children having less than 18 years of age.

Practical Implications- This survey will be helpful for revising the public library guidelines for children. It will promote to set a national platform for children libraries. This research will help in designing learning commons for the children. It will also help the library authorities in framing collection development policy for children libraries. Furthermore, it will help children librarian to acquire and disseminate information according to children’s needs.

Findings- Children are in support for the technological advancement in the children library. They have diverse nature and needs to approach their information need. Further, the need of library learning commons is quite important in the present scenario of Varanasi children.

Originality- The paper is the first research of its kind in terms of its scope and coverage. It presents the original information about expectations of children about children library in Varanasi, India.