Tuesday, October 25, 2016

A Study to Prove the Benefits of Leisure Reading and Justify Collection Choices



Tracy, Anna
INFO 266, Fall 2016

A Study to Prove the Benefits of Leisure Reading and Justify Collection Choices

This article goes over the conduction of a study of two public libraries in Cape Town to evaluate the impact that pleasure reading materials have on users and whether or not that outcome is positive or moot. Examples of the survey given out to customers are provided with all of the questions identifying a learning outcome. One facet of data collected was that participants said the public library was 80-86% of their source of reading material.

Studies were referenced that have shown, it is possible to measure an individual’s experience during pleasure reading to identify learning. Fascinating… This type of evidence based assessment is what libraries are using to demonstrate their relevance to funders and politicians. Conducting this kind survey/study at my own public library would be fascinatingly interesting and helpful for seeking out additional funding.

It was interesting to read how they constructed their questions and what learning outcome that generated.


Skarzynski, J., & Nassimbeni, M. (2016). Evaluating the impact of the public library book collection: a case study of two public libraries in Cape Town. South African Journal Of Libraries & Information Science, 82(1), 26-35. doi:10.7553/82-1-1597

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