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86 WHY PEOPLE USE THE LIBRARY

indicate that the library circulates books of a better or a worse
quality than are obtained from other sources.

The use of the public library for reference purposes,
though small compared with borrowing, is important. Young
people especially make use of the public library for school
assignments. In most cases adults use it for fact-finding ques-
tions—only rarely for research investigations. Most of the
subject matter about which questions are asked falls within
the social sciences, history and biography, the pure and ap-
plied sciences, and literature. This makes the reference use
quite different in subject matter from the circulation use of
the public library. The newspapers and magazines of the li-
brary are of greater importance as reference materials than
as current reading: the great bulk of the latter type of litera-
ture is purchased at the newsstands. Only a relatively few .
people use the card catalogue with any regularity or rely upon’
the librarian for reading gmdance

From existing research it would appear that hbrarlans n-
dividually have had little effect upon the reading tastes and
interests of the adult public, who in their choice of reading are
most widely influenced by their own personal interests,
friends, reviews, and advertisements, and comparatively little
by librarians. But librarians do have much greater influence on
the reading of children. Whether and how the library has
influenced popular reading through its acquisition and pro-
motion program is not known. From a nationwide survey
it appears that the influence of the library and the librarians
will be deepened more than broadened by the introduction of
new services such as films, records, and group discussions;
these new services appeal most to old friends of the public
library.

There are some general data available from studies dealing
with popular opinion and knowledge of the public library.
These indicate that most people are satisfied with the public