COMMUNICATION AND READING i

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AS A SOURCE OF BOOKS What is the
role of the public library as a source of books relative to the
other channels for bringing books to people?® Although the
answer to this question varies with different groups and in dif-
ferent locales (as the data in Tables 2 and 3 indicate), certain
central tendencies can be identified to describe the “average”
or “typical” situation. In approximate, but reasonably accu-
rate terms, below are the sources from which people secure
the books which they read.*

Various Sources orF Books

Approximate

Percentage of Books Supplied

Sources ADULTS YOUNG PEOPLE
Public library 25 25
School library o 40
Friends : 20 5
Purchase and home library 35 20
Rental library 8 2
Other sources 10 8

branches and the central library of the Los Angeles Public Library re-
vealed that 12.8 percent of all children from kindergarten through Grade
VIII in the areas served by these libraries withdrew public library books
during a two-week period in 1948 (Henne, 1948). Only 9.5 percent of the
children came to the library voluntarily to withdraw books; the other 3
percent used the library during scheduled visits of class groups or during
visits of the children’s librarian to the school. Another study of 948 pupils
in Grades III through VIII in four elementary schools in Chicago indi-
cated that 12 percent used the public library branches during the two-
week period under investigation (Janecek, 1948).

*The term “library clientele” appears throughout this report. Its meaning
differs in different studies and can be found for any particular study in the
bibliographical annotation.

°It is important to recognize here and elsewhere throughout the report that
such data can be stated in terms of readers or people supplied or in terms of
books supplied and that these two formulations can be quite different.
19Such data for children are neither extensive nor reliable enough for gen-
eralization. Presumably the public library is used as a source of books for
children more. frequently than for the older groups.

   

 

AR -