SOCIAL IMPACT OF POLISH PUBLIC LIBRARIESFIRST FINDINGS AND RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES

MAGDALENA PAUL, MADEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM, INFORMATION AND BOOK STUDIESUNIVERSITY OF WARSAW, POLAND

en. impact ← lat. impingere (v)

to push, strike, dash against

en. impact = pol. wpływ ← płynąć (v)

to flow, stream

CC BY-SA Bea https://www.flickr.com/photos/beamillion/6924303372

IMPACT OF LIBRARY

● difference or change in an individual or group resulting from the contact with library services (ISO, 2014).

● any change resulting from the library's activity and library as a organization, including intended as well as unintended, negative as well as positive, and long-term as well as short-term effects (Laser..., 2005).

RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES

impact of initiative,programme, service

or library process

advantages in specified areasof life, which come from using

a library

using solicited evidences,based on library users'declarations on actual

and/or potential impact

using observed evidencesbased on observations

and test results

RESEARCH GOALS

1. The impact of library initiative, which tries to generate sort of social benefit, ie. activities supporting job seekers (programme 'Rise on labour market' = “Wykiełkuj na rynku pracy” in Polish):

● changes in knowledge, skills and attitude of participants,

● changes in participants' career, eg. finding and starting job, changing profession, taking some additional courses or study programmes, decision of starting their own business and others,

2. The general impact of libraries understood as impact in area of social life, including social inclusion and cohesion, access to information and education, community development and individual well-being.

INSTRUMENTS & PROCEDURES

Module 1.Impact of initiative

Questionnaire atthe beginningand at the end

of project

2 IDIs at the endof project

and 3 mth later

Module 2.General impact

CAPI IDI

PILOT EDITION OF PROJECT AND MODULE 1. RESEARCH

● November 2015 – March 2016

● Warsaw Public Library in Ochota District – branch „Book stop”

● up to 6 people took part

– high school students

– university students and graduates● 2 of them took part in whole programme and research

CHANGE OF COMPETENCES

● Person A: Certainly there's a change. First of all that more or less I know what will happen next. I'm still afraid all of this, this process, and in general, getting a job, apprenticeship, and so on, the interview and if I can keep it up. Now I am a little less afraid, simply because I know, what awaits me.

● Person B: I'm somewhere closer than farther, let's say, to my future career. I know better where to start, in fact I have already decided, I have 2-3 months of free time and I want to do something about it, I actually know where to start. Certainly there's some uncertainty associated with the first work, but when it comes to the process itself, I definitely feel more confident. I do not feel that there was something that I thought differently, and it completely changed. But it seems to me that all is more in order now. Maybe I have a little bit more positive approach to that.

LIBRARY AS A PLACE FOR JOBSEEKERS

● Person A: I do not know where else. I didn't even know that something like this might be for free, that you can go there and learn something.

● Person B: It seems to me that it's a right place, because I do not see other place that would be better. Library is a place that everyone has access to and it's in some way associated with knowledge.

CHANGES IN CAREER

✔ They both looked for job

✔ They both had couple of interviews

✔ Person A did get a job, person B didn't

✔ They cooperated in searching for job's offers

✔ They individually deepenned their knowledge

✔ Person A helped her colleagues and sister in writing CV

GENERAL IMPACT OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES

● Place for borrowing books– pleasure

– compensation – living the feelings of novels' characters

– spending free time and expulsion of boredom

● Internet access home, when it's not available at home

● Place for collaborative learning

● Place for individual learning– in peace and quiet

– access to wide range of resources

NEXT RESEARCH STEPS

2015 2016 2017

Module 1. Pilot Module 1. - 23 public librariesModule 1. Pilot

Module 2.Nov

Module 1. - 23 public libraries

Jun Sep

Jan Sep

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

● Module 1.– only a few libraries have already started programme

– there's a problem with finding participants– possible bias

● impact of libraries might be identified by users and interrelated with library activities

● areas of social impact might depend on the manner and intensity of using libraries

● it depends largely on the current and long-term needs of the participants

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

Magdalena PaulDepartment of Journalism, Information and Book Studies

University of Warsaw, Poland

magdaa.paul@gmail.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY (1/2)1. (2005). Laser Foundation Libraries Impact Project,

http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/acrossuk/workpub/laser/news/awards2004/laserfinal6.pdf.2. (2005). Libraries building communities: the vital contribution of Victoria’s public libraries

– a research report for the Library Board of Victoria and the Victorian Public Library Network. Report two: logging the benefits, http://www2.slv.vic.gov.au/pdfs/aboutus/publications/lbc_report2.pdf.

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5. (2014). ISO 16439:2014 Information and documentation -- Methods and proceduresfor assessing the impact of libraries.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY (2/2)

8. Borowski, H. (2015) Do czego służą biblioteki?, http://www.biblioteki.org/poradniki/Do_czego_sluza_biblioteki_raport_z_badania_wplywu_Programu_Rozwoju_Bibliotek_na_uzytkownikow_bibliotek.html.

9. Cox, E., Swinbourne K. (ed.) (2000). “A safe place to go”: libraries and social capital, http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/services/public_libraries/docs/safe_place.pdf.

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11. Johnson, C. A. (2012). How do public libraries create social capital? An analysis of interactions between library staff and patrons. Library & Information Science Research, 34, (pp. 52-62).

12. Usherwood, B. (2002). Accounting for outcomes: demonstrating the impact of public libraries. Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, 15, (pp. 5-13).

13. Vakkari, P. et al. (2014). Perceived outcomes of public libraries in Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. Journal of Documentation, 70, (pp. 927-944).

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