From printed books to e-books

School and college students are the most frequent visitors to libraries, simply because they need information to carry out their assignments. People seldom come simply to read books.

A mere 22 percent Ukrainians visit libraries, according to a poll carried out by the Kyiv International Institute for Social Studies (KMIS) in collaboration with the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), as part of the program Bibliomist (Library Bridge). Among these the most frequent visitors are children under 13 years of age (the poll indicates that 55 percent had visited libraries during 2009).

In the United States, public libraries are far more popular. They are annually visited by some 70 percent of residents of various ages. Experts attribute this popularity to the US libraries’ long tradition of free Internet access. Here people can read e-books, communicate with friends, and even look for a job.

Ukraine is now using European experience. Within the framework of the program Bibliomist over 1,000 public libraries will be equipped with computer workstations before the end of this year, and librarians will undergo special training. What else must be done to make the Ukrainian libraries popular? What is the public attitude? More on this in the following interview with Svitlana KOLESNYK, head of Bibliomist’s efficiency assessment department.

Ms. Kolesnyk, what is the general public attitude to libraries in Ukraine?

“The KMIS poll that we commissioned shows that even though only 22 percent Ukrainians visited libraries last year, almost 83 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied with the library service; 18 percent, aged 14-29, said public libraries are places where you can quickly get the information you need for your study or work; 20 percent went there because they could have free Internet access and use PCs. In fact, almost 70 percent of the younger respondents were interested in Internet access. The problem is that children and youth are the most frequent visitors. Many people simply don’t know that public libraries tend to change for the better with time and that here you can not only borrow books but also receive other services.

“We believe that Internet access will make our libraries more popular. When people learn that they can have free access, they will show more interest. Anyway, that’s what we see in other projects using computers and free Internet access. Considering that young people visit libraries most frequently and welcome progressive technologies, libraries should focus on this age group. Young people could also be the best promoters for libraries. Some libraries have had young people volunteer to promote them.

“The older generation is less inclined to use public libraries, take computer training courses, or visit libraries that promise to have new computers installed. However, this doesn’t mean that such people won’t benefit from using the Internet at public libraries. For example, they access the Internet to communicate with relatives abroad. Farmers in Ternopil oblast used the Internet to find new tomato varieties. This allowed them to increase the crop yield twofold. The poll indicates that last year public libraries were visited by 12 percent Ukrainians aged over 60, 12 percent aged 45-59, and 21 percent aged 33-44. The rest were young people. The library visiting ratio varies in various regions. People in eastern Ukraine visit libraries less frequently (19 percent of the respondents) compared to western (26 percent) and central regions (27 percent).”

What about the social profile of these visitors?

“An analysis of our findings shows that library visitors can be categorized into two large groups. The first one constitutes 41 percent of the total number and is made up of people who come only to borrow/read books. Suppose we tag this group as adult book readers. It is typically represented by women aged 45–59, rural residents without post-secondary education, and having medium income and information level. The second group (59 percent) uses a broad range of library services, including reading newspapers, taking part in library-organized projects, and using PCs and the Internet. Its typical representative is a college student on a high information level, who regularly uses various data sources, including the Internet. Although most respondents stated that they regularly used the Internet to search for information, today a mere 2.5 percent of the Ukrainian public libraries have Internet access, and only 1.8 percent of the respondents said they had used the Internet at a public library during the past month.”

In your opinion, what can make the public library more popular?

“While carrying out our poll we tried to figure out why some people never visit libraries. Almost all our respondents said they had no time. Now this was a vague comment, considering that people find time to do things they consider important, so this will be the topic of our next poll.”

Well, what can be done to improve the public library’s image?

“It is very important for a public library to offer new, innovative services like Internet access, creation of websites, computer training, and data search in certain spheres. A library should organize more interesting projects that meet the needs of the population or a certain community, and of course more actively advertise its services. This will increase the visiting ratio and the libraries’ role in modern society. This way libraries can be a source of information for various strata of the population, especially for people who can ill afford subscriptions to newspapers and magazines, and even less so Internet access.

“We have to adopt foreign experience and provide our public libraries with Internet access, so they can offer this service the way they offer books, video, audio cassettes/disks, and so on. Computers must become an inalienable component of every library.

“Furthermore, it is necessary to train the librarians in new technologies, so they can teach their patrons. With this in mind, the program Bibliomist is setting up training centers in every oblast. They will be opened this spring.”