Perceived outcomes of public libraries in the U.S.

Publication date: Available online 2 September 2015 Source:Library & Information Science Research Author(s): Sei-Ching Joanna Sin, Pertti Vakkari Public libraries are under constant pressure to demonstrate their worth. Outcome measures can present the benefits public libraries bring to individuals in terms that are relevant to them. Beyond service-specific outcome assessments, however, few nationwide studies have examined the benefits of public libraries as a whole. Following the Finnish national survey conducted by Vakkari and Serola (2012), this study surveyed more than 1000 U.S. respondents on 22 areas of benefits. The benefits were reduced by factor analysis to three dimensions. ANOVAs were used to test demographic differences in these benefit dimensions. The findings show that most respondents viewed the impact of public libraries on their lives positively. The most frequently perceived benefit was in the reading and self-education dimension. Significant gender and education attainment differences were found for this dimension, with women and more educated respondents giving more positive responses. In contrast, age and race/ethnicity differences were significant in the work and formal education dimension and in the everyday activities and interests dimension. In both dimensions, younger respondents and ethnic minorities reported more positive responses. For the everyday activities dimension, higher-income respondents reported more frequent benefits. Over...
Source: Library and Information Science Research - Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: research