Week 2 - Blogging Question

I have two areas of research that I am interested in exploring.

I am interested in how members of the library use the library and benefit from it. The group of most interest to me is low-income (potentially single) parents, as there are many young single mothers in my hometown. I would like to know more about how (and if) these people use the library, and about what types of programs might benefit them the most. This question might be problematic to research, as the libraries that I am generally most interested in are those in smaller communities, and these areas might not have programs geared towards single parents (compared to places like Toronto, which serve a larger community and offer more programs and resources). I think that smaller communities would benefit from this type of research, but I am not sure how I would go about testing the question. It would most likely involve interviewing single mothers in the community about their goals, the way that they currently use the library, and any needs that they consider to be unmet by the community. This research might not be widely applicable, but it could make a big difference in the community where the research is being conducted.

I am also curious about how high school students use school libraries compared with how they use community libraries. I would like to know if “teen areas” are actually being used by teenagers, and if they encourage teenagers to come to the library. I also want to know if these areas discourage other library users from borrowing the materials in these sections. This would be a part of the wider question that asks if it benefits libraries to have areas that are segregated for different types of use (children, young adults, adults, seniors). It seems to me that this separation of areas would decrease the sense of community that can be found in the library. As part of this question, I would like to know how the community’s ideals for the library change based on age: do 15 year olds and 40 year olds use the libraries for similar things? How about 80 year olds? Ultimately I would like to know how library use differs by age, what different age groups would like to see in the library, and which groups the library is currently serving the best.