Search

The study investigates dust management at the Albert Ilemobade library, The Federal University of Technology Akure. Dust deposition and accumulation poses a major challenge for the university library as all the units, sections, and divisions are affected. Dust not only adversely affects all materials, equipment, and facilities including books, audiovisual collections, and computers, but also constitutes a health hazard to library personnel and users. Major sources of dust include visitor activities and infiltration through openings like windows and doors. Dust mats, special computer enclosures, dusters, dust blowers, and respiratory masks were made available for dust protection and management in the library. The library lacked equipment like High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) filters and dust collection, and suppressions systems. Lack of awareness and training, inadequate funding, and lack of equipment were identified as the challenges to dust management in the library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Der Beitrag bezieht die aktuelle schwedische Bibliotheksdebatte auf die europaweit entfachte Diskussion zur Verteidigung und Stärkung der Demokratie. Im Zuge der Kritik an Habermas' Öffentlichkeitskonzept, dessen frühe Version von homogenisierenden Vorstellungen geleitet war, wird nun versucht, demokratische Prozeduren und Repräsentationsweisen ausgehend von divergierenden Überzeugungen (Dissens) und länger anhaltenden Konflikten neu zu fassen. Der demokratiesichernde Auftrag – nicht nur – der schwedischen Bibliotheken zeichnet sich dadurch aus, in Krisen- und Konfliktlagen Informationen und Orientierungswissen bereitzustellen, ein sicherer öffentlicher Raum zu sein und sowohl das Personal als auch die Anwendenden mit Ressourcen auszustatten, die ihnen jederzeit ermöglichen, gesprächsbereit und handlungsfähig zu bleiben. This paper relates the current library debate in Sweden to the ongoing discussion across Europe about defending and strengthening democracy. In the wake of the criticism of Habermas' notion of the 'public sphere', which was guided by homogenising ideas in its early version, this paper now attempts to reconceptualise democratic processes and modes of representation considering divergent views (dissent) and long-term conflicts. Along with other institutions, the Swedish libraries follow the mandate to safeguard democracy by providing information and knowledge for orientation in situations of crisis and conflict, by being safe public spaces and by providing both library personnel and library users with resources that enable them to remain open to discussions and to be capable to always act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agilität als Möglichkeit, Organisationen erfolgreicher auszurichten, wird auch in Bibliotheken populärer. Oft erfolgt die agile Transformation dabei aber mit einem einseitigen Fokus auf agile Tools, was zu Frustration und Ablehnung bei den Bibliotheksmitarbeiter*innen führen kann. Besteht hingegen auch ein Bewusstsein für agile Prinzipien und Werte sowie die Bereitschaft, das agile Arbeiten empiriebasiert an die Bedürfnisse der Bibliotheksmitarbeiter*innen und Benutzer*innen anzupassen, kann die Transformation gelingen. Dies zeigt der Beitrag anhand von Praxisbeispielen auf der Ebene von Projekten, Teams und der Gesamtorganisation von Bibliotheken auf. Agile management, a promising way of optimising organisational structures, is increasingly used in libraries as well. The focus of agile transformation is, however, mostly dedicated to the use of tools and techniques leading to frustration and resistance on the side of library staff. If, on the other hand, there is an awareness of agile principles and values, and a willingness to adapt these tools to empirically based needs of both library staff and users, agile transformation can succeed. This is illustrated by various examples at the level of projects, teams and the overall organisation of libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Dokk1 multifunctional library, which has achieved international recognition as an exemplary city library of the future. The first part of the article is devoted to a description of the spatio-temporal configurations and social interactions inside and outside the imposing building situated at the tip of Århus harbour. In the second part, the spatial-sociological perspective applied in the description is transferred to the measures and objectives aimed at promoting democracy, as these have been formulated in the municipal guidelines and other current documents. As user orientation is considered the most important guiding principle for the library staff, the behaviour of both the library users and the staff is interpreted in this article as representative of everyday democratic negotiation. Finally, it explores the question of how far the social togetherness in the library and local democracy in the municipality Århus kommun could be related to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the customers' perceptions on three traditional dimensions of the perceived library service quality (library personnel; library resources and user services; and facilities and equipment), customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty of the public library users. Survey data using simplified questionnaires were analyzed which were collected from 1015 users of public libraries in 2015 and 2019 respectively in South Korea. The results show that they were generally satisfied with public library services and want to visit them again and/or recommend them to others based on the good perceptions on the public library service quality, because the means of each variable on a Likert 5-point scale was fairly high: customer satisfaction 3.85, customer loyalty 4.12, and perceived service quality 3.80 (library personnel 3.80, library resources and user services 3.81, and facilities and equipment 3.79). Each of three dimensions of perceived service quality had statistically significant positive impacts both on customer satisfaction and on the loyalty of the users, and that customer satisfaction had statistically significant positive impacts on customer loyalty. Different groups by gender, age, education, and occupation show the mean differences in customer loyalty. This article suggests research and managerial implications and limitations of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore a strategy to strengthen the library's role of enhancing the quality of life for residents by identifying relationships between user satisfaction with library services and their quality of life. Questionnaires were distributed to public library users and normal distribution (skewness and kurtosis) and reliability of the measurement tools were validated. The results of this study show that satisfaction with the library staff has a positive influence on the participants' living satisfaction, self-efficacy, and emotional stability. Second, an evaluation of their satisfaction with the library overall showed a significantly positive influence on their living satisfaction as well positive thinking. In conclusion, investment in libraries leads the public to be satisfied with their overall life, think of their future positively, have confidence to perform their roles successfully, and gain a sense of freedom with continuing stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American libraries currently face a dramatic shift in how they are perceived, both by the public and by lawmakers. In order to preserve the traditional values observed by librarians, such as patron privacy and access to information, libraries must also preserve the traditional associations that have defined them. The value of libraries has been undermined by the threat of terrorism and the subsequent political pressure to find blame for the terrorist attacks. Librarians must choose whether or not to stick to the traditional library brand, or evolve and market libraries as something else. Without public support, definitions will not change easily. The American public still views the library as a place to read and find books, and this definition must prevail for libraries to retain their relevance in American life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]