Identifying the Amount of Public Library Use by Educated Young People and the Most Important Barriers from Their Point of View

This study aimed to identify the amount of public libraries use by young people and the most important barriers facing them to use public libraries in the city of Mashhad.

The current research is applied in the objective, functional and analytical approach and survey method was used. The statistical population of the current research was selected from among the young people working in the government offices of Mashhad who had at least a bachelor's degree. To select Mashhad offices, a list of these offices was prepared and among them, 10 offices through systematic random were selected. According to the sample size (n = 170), 17 questionnaires were distributed among the employees of each of the 10 offices by simple sampling method and were used in the analysis. The face validity of the questionnaire was checked and confirmed by the faculty members. In order to analyze the data, first, a brief description of the demographic characteristics of the study population including gender, age and level of education was provided. By using descriptive statistics indicators (prevalence, percentage, mean, standard deviation and variance) and chi-square test and t-test of a sample, the data and answers given to the questionnaire were described and analyzed, and the research questions and hypotheses were answered based on this. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured using SPSS software and Cronbach's alpha was 0.78, which indicates good reliability.  

The results of the research showed that educated young people in the city of Mashhad offices in both sexes and in different educational levels in the use of public libraries were homogeneous. In the present study, a small percentage (%32.9) of the respondents were members of the public library, and only a small percentage (%36.35) of them used the public library. The study showed that young people are, on average, tend to use public libraries and from their point of view, to use of public libraries, to a small extent, is essential. Among the inhibiting factors in the use of public libraries, with the library method, the most important inhibiting factors were identified in the category of other factors (%28.27), which were: the weakness of the prevailing culture in the society in terms of emphasis on reading books, lack of encouragement of mass media to study, lack of encouragement of family (parents) and friends to read books and financial and expensive issues (family economic problems) and the least inhibiting factor was related to library staff (%7.68). In general, the most important factors preventing the use of public libraries are: the dominance of visual and audio media, obtaining information from channels other than libraries, lack of time or opportunity to study, libraries not being open at the required hours, low advertising to attract young people. to study and libraries, the location of libraries being far from the place of residence, the lack of organized public libraries in the city (lack of public libraries in the workplace and living), the lack of up-to-date library resources, the lack of required books, the lack of specialized, experienced and Experienced in guiding people and lack of efficiency of some existing staff, lack of public library space and busyness.

Due to the dominance of visual and audio media, obtaining information from channels other than libraries, the location of libraries being far from the place of residence, the lack of up-to-date library resources and the lack of specialized, experienced and experienced human resources to guide people, as the most important inhibiting factors. The use of public libraries by young people is suggested to solve these problems: placing the full text of some needed resources such as: books and articles on the library website, using virtual space facilities such as: Viber, Line, Telegram, and… to inform about news. and library services to people, increasing the quantity and quality of library resources according to people's needs and the good manners of librarians and library officials and proper treatment with patrons, which can help solve problems and make more use of public libraries by young people. Originality/value:By identifying the factors preventing young people from using public libraries, it is possible to identify and prioritize the most important implementation solutions and help the authorities and those involved to adopt the appropriate strategies, which can ultimately provide the growth and development and physical and mental health of the youth.