• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.291-312
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• 2014

The purpose of this national study is to identify the factors affecting the public library use among the Korean adult population. The study constructed a model of three types of factors to explain the frequency of public library visits: an individual's socio-demographic characteristics, input and output measures of the local library, and the community size and library investment of the local government. The data were collected from both a national representative sample of 1,000 adults of 18 years old or above who participated in a web survey and the 2013 National Library Statistics of Korea. It was found that a more frequent public library visit occurred when a person who read more and lived closer to the library, which was newly established in a small to medium-sized scale, who lives in a city with a greater population and with more library staff members serving a fewer patrons. Implications for future public library constructions and for public services were suggested based on the study findings.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.24
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• pp.139-169
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• 1993

The major purpose of this study is to scrutinize and analyze various factors in numerous aspects of two different library systems for the visually handicapped, namely braille library and a special section for the visually handicapped in the public library system. The analyses may provide theoretical and conceptual framework on which strategies to enhance services for the visually handicapped is to be developed. More specifically, this study seeks (1) to examine a linkage between the degree of maintenance of staffs, collections, and equipment and the level of satisfactions of librarians and (2) to come up with more effective mechanisms of welfare services for the visually handicapped in each library system. This research is qualitative-descriptive and uses interview method. Fourteen libraries throughout the nation (4 public libraries with a reading room for the visually handicapped and 8 braille libraries) which had been in operation more than one year were selected as subjects for the research. Findings and results of the analyses are summarized as follows : 1. There seems to be general consensus that each of public and braille library has significant but, to a certain extent, different roles to play in order to enhance library services for the visually handicapped. Recruitment of qualified librarians, increase of the volume of collection, and enlargement of reading room space are noted as immediate concerns for the former. For the latter, it was suggested that increase of the number of staff for publishing, securing more equipments for pulication in braille, and wider scope as well as more variety of publications are the pressing problems at hand. 2. Both public and braille library employ one librarian for the visually handicapped who is required to have educational background in library science and special education. In addition, one must have competence in reading braille types. 3. Majority of reading rooms in those libraries is so small in physical aspect that size and number of seats are 66m2 and 15 seats respectively because circulation services are mainly in use due to the problem of inaccessibility which is commonly suffered by the visually handicapped. 4. Library services for the visually handicapped are heavily concentrated upon the large urban area. In fact, most of braille libraries are located in Seoul whereas a reading room for the visually handicapped in the public library system are exclusively placed in the large cities such as Inchon, Taejon, and Taegu. 5. All of the public library is neither equipped with necessary facilities to publish in braille nor secured supporting instruments which may facilitate library use for the visually handicapped. On the contrary, most of braille libraries are equipped with arrangements to publish in braille despite supporting devices are gererally lacking. 6. Consequently, provision of services In the public library is largely confined to reading and circulation of materials purchased from braille libraries while major task of braille libraries centers around publication and distributions of the reading materials in braille.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.29-52
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• 2020

This study reports a field study that examined the citizens' needs and perceptions of library services at a municipal public library system of Mapo-gu, in an attempt to develop a comprehensive service plan that can satisfy the diverse public needs in the changing social environment. We administered a self-reported questionnaire to 800 library users and 300 non-users in the area to examine their reading habits, library use, and perceptions of library services and programs. As a result of the analysis, 53.7% of Mapo-gu residents used one or two libraries among all 16 municipal libraries, and the primary criterion for selecting the main library was accessibility(63.9%). And only 53.8% of library users had experience participating in the library programs. The respondents also showed strong perception that the library is an essential place for the community and the children. Study results indicate that the library system should further expand the collection size, diversify information contents, improve the physical space including library facilities, and build more libraries. In order to fulfill the role of public libraries as the central place of the community, the municipal city should further invest in enhancing accessibility, spatial innovation, and diversifying service contents and media.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.289-316
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• 2015

The disabled suffer great difficulties from public library access and data use due to reasons such as disabilities, mobility limitations, and lack of alternative materials and services. To overcome this, through outreach services for the disabled, public libraries should meet the multiple needs of people with disabilities. As such, the purpose of this study is to derive suitable strengthening plans of outreach services based on the size of the targeted user and disability type by analyzing outreach service operation practices in libraries in Korea and overseas and by researching and analyzing the status and awareness of outreach services for the disabled in Korean public libraries.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.335-358
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• 2023

This study analyzed the characteristics of the learning organization according to its characteristics, the operation method and size of each public library. In addition, the service quality of public libraries was investigated so that it was also analyzed the correlation between the characteristics of the learning organization and the quality of the service. To achieve the research objectives, 83 librarians and 343 users across seven public libraries in South Korea's metropolitan areas were surveyed. The investigation covered various dimensions of learning organizations: creating continuous learning opportunities, promoting inquiry and dialogue, encouraging collaboration and team learning, creating systems to capture and share learning, empowering people toward a collective vision, connecting the organization to its environment, and providing strategic leadership for learning. Also it was investigated aspects of service quality: affect of service, information control, and library as place. As a result of the study, for the learning organization characteristics, more than 3.4 out of 5 were qualified to have foundation of learning organizations. One attempted to categorize according to its operational method and size and compare learning organization differences between public libraries, however it was not easy to see the clear differences. Therefore it was judged that there might be another unidentified factor which gives an affect on learning organization. Furthermore, it was found that there was a positive correlation between learning organization traits and service quality. This study might signify by looking into how the learning organization, which is one of the post-bureaucratic organizational traits, appears in public libraries.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.151-170
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• 2021

The domain name should be registered and used with the minimum length in consideration of the user's web accessibility and convenience. In addition, it is necessary to increase the status and authority of the library by allowing the type, region, and characteristics of the library to be known only by the domain name, and to consider the convenience of users. In this study, the situation of the state designated second-stage public domain and the second-stage public domain of educational institutions of similar character and size to the library are analyzed, and problems with the domain of libraries that do not have the second-stage domain are identified. Finally, second-stage public domains of national library (nl), public library (pl), and small library (sl) are proposed for each type of library, and the university library (lib. university domain) and school library (lib. School domain) proposed to use as the second-stage domains of the educational institution. The purpose is to allow users to intuitively know that these domains are libraries, to identify the type of library, and to know the characteristics and regions of the library. To this end, a joint effort by the academic community, the library community, and the Library Information Policy Committee is needed.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.229-245
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• 2011

Public Libraries in Seoul have been steadily increasing their numbers from 4 libraries in 2004 to 15 libraries in 2009. On the contrary, the size of recently established public libraries have been reduced compared to the previous ones. Because of their limited space, which cannot manage increasing collection, public libraries started collection disposal. This research investigated public libraries' disposal standards and present conditions of collection items. Based on this investigation, enhance way of the collection disposal was suggested.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.183-201
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the current staffing practices in public libraries and to analyze the relevance of legal standards of public library staffing. It analyzed the national library statistical data to obtain the national average staffing rate, reviewed related literature to understand the rationales that established the key attributes that construct the current legal standards, and compared the placement rates of the three standards, namely the current legal standards, Korean Library Association's standards, and IFLA staffing standards, to determine the optimacy of the legal standards. It found the current placement rate in the legal standard was only 18.2%, marking the lowest rates among the three compared standards, indicating the current legal standards being unnecessarily high. The study attributes the problem to the structure of the current legal standards that calculate the staffing size based on the building and collection size rather than service populations. The findings of this study suggest a revision of the current standard based on service population while retaining the minimum staffing of three librarians even the smallest public library unit.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.113-120
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• 2017

As the functions and roles of public libraries expand, it is time for qualitative growth. In order to improve the quality of public libraries, it is important to plan actual construction costs through systematic feasibility study. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present the guideline of construction costs considering the size and regional characteristics according to the status role of the new public libraries. The construction costs are based on actual data. The results of the study are as follows. First, we derived the analysis framework according to the size and regional characteristics. The status role of the public libraries was considered theoretically. The size was classified according to status role of the public libraries. Regional characteristics were classified through literature review. Through this, an analysis framework was derived according to size and region. Second, the actual data on construction costs of the new public libraries were examined and analyzed. Basic factors, size, area, and construction costs were analyzed for 285 libraries nationwide that opened from 2010 to 2016. The data of 129 newly opened public libraries were classified. To present construction costs depending on price fluctuation, construction cost index was analyzed as of September 2016. Third, a guideline of construction costs for new public libraries was suggested. The construction cost per $1m^2$ of building area was analyzed. By multiplying 116.70(p), the construction cost index, the construction cost per $1m^2$ of total building area was calculated to be 2,472,350 won. When applying the research result, construction costs can be gained by adding construction cost index of the month.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.193-212
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• 2020

In Korea, the term 'public library service population' is applied in various situations without academic discourse. This study analyzed concepts and applications of the term with literary reviews and case studies in United States, Australia, Japan, and Korea. And also this study redefined concepts and suggested new measurements of 'design population' and 'service population.' The former is the population who lives in area where public library can serve, and only demographic characteristics can be identified. It can be calculated based on the population of administrative district. In case of urban areas with a population of more than 100,000, it can be calculated the population within a radius of 2km from library. In areas with a population of less than 100,000 it can be calculated based on the population of Eup, Myeon, and Dong. In both cases the estimated population up to the library's opening year is added. Service population is used for the planning, evaluating, and promoting library services, and it can be defined as the actual users or estimated population determined by the input resources of the public libraries. It can be calculated by the number of enrolled members, or service participants, or target populations according to the size of input resources. The advantages of the proposal in this study are enabling efficient facility placement or resource inputs in public libraries and enhancing reliability of measuring output versus input. In addition, this study proposed to delete for paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Library Act to avoid confusion.