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Public libraries lack facilities to operate mobile services: Study

26 Aug 2021

  • Suggests several extensions to ensure equal access to all
  • Librarians request awareness programmes, dedicated officers
By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody Public libraries lack sufficient facilities to operate mobile library services for schoolchildren who are their major users, a local study found. Various factors have led to this situation, including the majority of the libraries not having a large and separate collection of books for the mobile library services, the lack of transportation facilities and the vehicles of the governing institutions used for the purpose of transporting books lacking the necessary facilities to do so, the lack of staff, issues in accessing difficult to reach areas, insufficient annual allocations including financial support to purchase new books, the failure on the part of readers to return books on time, and library staff having to pay fines for lost books. These findings were made in “A study on the mobile library services in the public libraries: With reference to the public libraries in the Matara District”, which was conducted by University of Ruhuna Senior Assistant Librarian R.A.P.S. Senevirathna and published in the Sri Lanka Library Review’s 35th Volume’s Second Issue on 23 August. According to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) public library manifesto, the services of public libraries should be provided with equality in terms of access to all, regardless of the user-cum-reader’s life circumstances. In this regard, specific services and materials must be provided for those such as linguistic minorities, differently abled persons who are housebound, people warded in hospitals and incarcerated in prisons, housewives, and senior citizens who cannot use the regular services and materials. Hence, Senevirathna notes that one of the main functions of a public library is to provide services to those who cannot access the library, and towards this end, if the user cannot or is unable to approach the library services, the library should approach the user, and therefore, there are a multitude of library extension services to be implemented in this regard. Extension services, Senevirathna explains, are one of the services that should be provided by public libraries, as it offers services to a diversity of readers and also gives a clear idea about the library services to those who do not currently use them. The American Library Association (ALA) Glossary of Library and Information Science defines the extension service as a library providing materials and services including advisory services to individuals and organisations outside its regular area of service, in particular to areas in which the library service is not available.
  1. Shukla explains in “Extension areas of the library in the modern era” that the objectives of library extension services are to make users out of non-users, to make illiterates literate, to create and stimulate the desire for good reading, to provide needed information and a reference service, to provide services for children and young people, to participate in adult education and distance education programmes, to support civic and cultural activities of groups and organisations, and to provide library services to schools that do not have their own libraries.
Library extension services can be provided through, Senevirathna adds, techniques, programmes, and projects such as library orientation tours, having an intellectual centre, conducting book fairs and exhibitions, festivals, and fairs, having story hours and storytelling sessions, public lectures, and talks, reading circles and study circles, the display of new and topical books, cultural programmes, organising competitions and quiz programmes, having a celebration of books week, having a branch library, having a book box and even book boat service, and implementing mobile library services. How mobile library services work is where people in a particular local context are informed to gather at a specific location in the area on a given date, and the mobile library in the form of boxes with books is then taken to that place in buses, lorries, vans, cabs, motorcycles, carts, or even boats, and readers can then borrow books from the mobile library. There are also cases of a house-to-house service being provided by mobile library services (limited staff in a vehicle with stocks of books) to remote areas such as villages and hamlets. As Shukla notes, the mobile library provides issue and return services for a certain period. Although certain libraries such as the Colombo Public Library provide mobile library services (in Colombo, to readers in 40 locations), Senevirathna observed that their efficiency and effectiveness is rather doubtful. Therefore, Senevirathna conducted a survey using the public libraries in the Matara District that offer mobile library services as the sample (11 out of 41, according to the Statistical Handbook on Libraries in Sri Lanka). Data were collected by distributing a study-based questionnaire with both structured and open-ended questions among the librarians of the relevant libraries. In terms of the authorised local government institution under which the public libraries offering mobile library services are controlled, it was found that the majority (81.80%) of the libraries are under the pradeshiya sabhas (PS) while the rest are under municipal councils (MC – 9.1%) and urban councils (UC – 9.1%). With regard to when the implementation of mobile library services commenced, the majority of the libraries have started implementing this service during the 2016-2020 period (54.54%) while the others had commenced the same during the 2011-2015 (36.36%) and 2006-2010 (9.1%) periods. On the nature of the books and reading materials allotted to and offered by the mobile library service, and whether the books in the mobile library service are a part of the main collection of the public library or whether it is a collection specially prepared for the mobile library service, it was found that the majority of the libraries used books and material from their main collection as part of the mobile library service (54.55%) while 45.45% used a collection that is specially prepared from a separate collection for the mobile library. Regarding the size of the book collection for the mobile library service, the majority of the libraries had either 500-750 books or 250-500 books (both 27.27% each), while 9.09% of libraries possessed 1,250-1,500 books, another 9.09% had 750-1000 books, and yet another 9.09% libraries had 1-250 books. Libraries possessing more than 1,500 books comprising 18.19% of the sample. However, having less than 750 books in the mobile library collection is wholly insufficient, Senevirathna pointed out. Pertaining to the acquisition of the book collection in the mobile library service, and whether the collection of books offered for the mobile library service in public libraries is being registered in a separate acquisition register or in the common library register, 54.55% used the common library acquisition register, while 45.45% utilised a separate registry for the purpose. In relation to the reader population targeted by the mobile library service of the selected public libraries and whether they are those at home, hospitalised patients, prisoners, the differently abled, students, government officers, or preschoolers, the majority of 54.54% are school students, 45.45% are those in households, 36.36% are government officers, 27.27% are preschoolers, 9.09% are for the differently abled, and 9.09% are for other groups such as Dhamma (doctrine of the Buddha) school students. It is noteworthy that none of the libraries offer this service to hospitalised patients and others in hospitals as well as to prisoners. In connection to the number of places covered by the mobile library services, the majority covered only one place (36.37%), followed by 18.18% that covered four places, 9.09% each that covered more than five places, two places, and three places. Of the mode of transportation used for the mobile library service, specifically the type of vehicle used, the majority used a cab (54.54%), followed by 27.28% who used a lorry (Dimo Batta) and 18.18% who used a three-wheeler. Furthermore, while the majority of these vehicles are provided by the parent institute (PS, MC, and UC), some are rented. On the matter of the frequency of the visits by the mobile library services to the service offering centres and places, the majority visited the places once every two weeks (72.73%), while 9.09% each visited the places once a week or once every three weeks. With regard to the number of staff members employed in the mobile library service, the majority employed three staff members in this activity (45.46%), followed by 36.36% that employed two staffers and 18.18% that employed only a single staffer. There were none with four or five staff members. In terms of the number of books lent at a time by the mobile library service, it was found that the maximum number of books lent at a time is two (90.90%), with 9.10% lending only one at a time. Concerning the number of readers who benefit from the mobile library service, the majority catered to more than 100 readers (54.54%), while 18.18% each catered to 26-50 readers and 51-75 readers. The reader count is between zero and 25 in the case of 9.10%. The issues and challenges faced by librarians when offering the mobile library service are problems in reaching difficult areas, reluctance on the part of readers to hand over borrowed books, there being no separate vehicle for the mobile library service or the lack of facilities in the available vehicle, the lack of staff members, not having a separate book collection for the mobile library service, the library staff having to bear the cost when readers lose borrowed books, difficulties in transporting books such as the damages that occur when piling books inside boxes and when getting them out, and insufficient annual monetary allocations to buy new books. The proposals given by the librarians to develop and enhance the mobile library service included organising programmes to encourage readers to read books, appointing a special officer to manage the mobile library service, maintaining a separate collection of books for the mobile library service, having a separate vehicle allocated for the mobile library service, arranging a system to lend books to hospitals and prisons, having books that are relevant to different target readership groups, and organising awareness campaigns to inform the importance of the mobile library service to locals. In conclusion, Senevirathna recommended increasing the number of books in the mobile library collection, extending the service to the people in hospitals and prisons, improving the facilities in the mode of transportation provided for the mobile library service, increasing the financial support to the libraries, increasing the number of books lent at a time to a reader, increasing the number of places where the mobile library service is provided, increasing awareness among the locals on the importance of the mobile library service and introducing the mobile library concept to libraries which currently do not have such a system, and giving them adequate financial support to commence such.


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