The Role of public libraries in cultural development of Birjand city

Document Type : مقالات پژوهشی

Authors

• Mohsen Nowkarizi ¹
• Seyyed Mehdi Narmenji ²

¹ Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

² Birjand University

10.22067/riis.v4i2.34360

Abstract

Purpose: The main aim of this research was to investigate the impact of Birjand public libraries on cultural development of this city.
Methodology:The statistical population of this survey covered the members of the public libraries of the General Office of South Khorasan Public Library Foundation. The population size included 4817 of whom 357 persons were selected as the sample based on sample size table by Krejcie and Morgan. To gather data from the population, a researcher-made questionnaire was used. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by SPSS.
Findings: findings showed that, from the respondents' view, the overall role of Birjand public libraries in the cultural development was more than average (score 3.28 out of 5). However, this amount was somewhat different in various aspects of cultural development as follow: 3.26 for the promotion of cultural identity, 3.16 for cultural exchanges among the members, 3.3 for the promotion of reading habits, 3.43 for increasing reading per capita and knowledge improvement, 2.98 for the development of cultural and artistic instruction, and finally 3.28 for cultural development. The results gained from the testing of hypotheses showed that there were not any significant differences between men and women respondents, the three age groups investigated, the respondents with various educational level, and three various job categories (respectively with p= 0.236, p= 0.115, p= 0.124, p= 0.843). The findings also showed that, in all aspects of cultural development except for the cultural and artistic instruction, the impact of public libraries, from the respondents' point of view, was more than average. Thus, it seems that the authorities of the General Office of South Khorasan Public Libraries Foundation need to take the implementation of cultural and artistic instruction programs into consideration more than before.

Keywords

• cultural development
• Public Libraries
• cultural identity
• cultural exchanges
• Birjand

---

References

Adimorah, E. N. O. (1993). Rural community information systems and culture. Africa Resource Sharing & Information Networks, 8 (2), 91-118.

Chambel, H. C. (1992). Developing Systems and Services of the Public Library. Translated by Ali Shokohi. Tehran: Secretariat of the Board of Trustees of the Public Libraries, the Librarian Publishing.

Dayani, M. H. (2003). The Research Gaps in the Social Sciences. Mashhad: Computer Library. (In Persian)

Hancks, J. W. (2012) .Rural Public Libraries' Role in Community Economic Development. Public Library Quarterly, 31 (3), 220-236.

Heidari, M. (2010). Examiningthe role of public libraries in cultural development of the city of Khatam from the perspective of members in 2010. Master's thesis in Cultural Programming. Islamic Azad University, Khurasgan Branch. . (In Persian)

Hnamte, L. (2006). Public Library in the Development of Mizo Society: A Case Study of Aizawl District Library. MLISc. Thesis of Library and Information Science. Mizoram University, India.

Kinya, H.D.S. (2011). A case study of users’ survey in public libraries in Kenya. International Research Journal of Library, Information and Archival Studies, 1(3), 91-104.

Maktabifard, L. (2005). The role of public libraries in realizing the cultural goals of development programs of Iran (1989-2004). Book Quarterly, 17 (2), 269-290. (In Persian)

Marjani, N. (1998). Investigation of public libraries’ status in Rey and providing solutions to achieve the desired status. Library and Information Science Master's theses. Tarbiat Modarres University, Faculty of Humanities. (In Persian)

Nāmi, A. A. (1995). General culture of Sarakhs city. Research project. Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Guidance Office of Khorasan.

Pārsazadeh, A.; & Shaghaghi, M. (2009) Public Libraries and the construction of social reality. Research of Information Science and Public Libraries, 15 (4), 29-60. (In Persian)

Riyahi, M. I. (1994). Cultural development of public libraries, investigating the relationship between cultural development and the quality and efficiency of public libraries. Research Project. Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. (In Persian)

Sāfi, G. (2000). The impact of public libraries in reading habits development. Librarianship Notebook. 34, 5-14. (In Persian)

Tosic,V. & Lazarevic, S. (2010). The role of libraries in the development of cultural tourism with special emphasis to the bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. UTMS Journal of Economics, 1(2). 107-114.

Yilmas, B. (1998). A sociological study of public library use in Ankara, Turkey. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 30 (4), 259-267.