The Role of Reading Station in Promoting Book Reading Habits in Mashhad

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 KIS dept., Education and Psychology faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Assistant Professor of Knowledge and Information Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract
Background and Objectives: The study aimed at evaluating the role of the implementation of the reading station plan in the rate of reading and reviewing the reading situation after its implementation. To reach the point, the following objectives were considered:

To investigate the population satisfaction of the books' content available in the reading station.
To review the population satisfaction of the location and number of reading stations.
To assess the reading level promotion of the population in pursuit of the reading station plan implementation.
To measure the success and progress of the reading station plan through surveying the views of the people who are involved with the plan.
To measure the impact of the demographic factors such as gender, age, level of education on the use of the reading station.

Methodology: This was practical research which had used a survey design. There were 2 populations for the study. The first population consisted of all the people who have used the reading stations in Mashhad City since 2013. The second one included all the librarians responsible for the reading station plan. Cluster sampling approach was used for the first population. Based on Cochran's sample size formula, a sample of 180 people has selected from the stations' readers. The data tool was a researcher made questionnaire. The researchers distributed it in 10 stations in 6 days during a week, only 172 questionnaires were returned. In the second population, all the responsible librarians were interviewed through a semi-structured interview. To measure the content validity, 5 KIS faculty members reviewed the questionnaire and their comments were included in it. To assess the reliability, the questionnaire was submitted to 30 people in a pilot study, and then Cronbach's alfa was calculated for it which was 0.89 which indicated the reliability was high enough. The data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, interpretive analysis and SPSS were used to analyze the data.
Findings: The level of users' satisfaction of reading stations' books was significantly higher than the average (score 3 out of 5). The level of user' satisfaction of the reading stations' location was also significantly above the average. The reading stations were relatively successful in promoting the people's reading level and in this regard their role was significantly higher than average. The average users' reading level was increased considerably with the implementation of the reading station plan. There was no significant difference between female and male's use of the reading stations. The findings didn't indicate any significant differences among the people with the various levels of education and age groups in their use of the reading stations. Based on the experts' comments, the reading station plan had a great impact on increasing the level reading of citizens and would promote the reading habits of the people, so they believed the reading station plan was successful. Again, they stated that the plan required spending much time and advertising to be more successful. They suggested some ways to improve their impacts such as: to increase the number of the reading stations throughout the city, advertise for them in press to represent the reading station plan, and finally provide a various range of books of all subjects.
Discussion: The finding indicated that the satisfaction of the people of the books in the reading stations were higher than the average. Thus, to get around this plan and that the people's satisfaction of the books reaches the desired level, it should be paid more attention to it. It seems to be more satisfying with the plan, it is necessary to provide diverse resources. As a result, its use will further increase. The results of the study showed that the location of the reading station was very effective in using it and if they were situated in places that were most visible and accessible (sidewalks and parks), they would be visited more and more. It seems one should redesign their construction and the new construction might be situated in open places so that one may locate it in open sidewalks and parks. As the results indicated the success of the reading stations, we propose to use them in a wide range to increase the reading per capita. According to the findings, the age group 21 to 40 years old has used them more, and in opposite the group aged 12 to 20 years old had less use rather than the others. It seems the reading station authorities should pay more attention to this age group needs and provide them with some appropriate books or to revise their books for the subject matters. 
In addition to these, the findings revealed that reading stations had some advantages and disadvantages. According to experts' views, their benefits may include their accessibility for the public, and their free availability. On the contrary, there are some weaknesses for them such as their lost and unreturning, the lack of the people' views on the books to update and replace them.
According to the results, it seems if sufficient funding is provided to equip the reading stations and if the habits to use and to introduce them are created through the help of advertising and informing, the people satisfaction with the books is increased by selecting the contents in line with their needs, and finally the station book number is increased, the plan will reach the goals and will consult more and more.  

Keywords


برک، لورا (1381). روان­شناسی رشد، از نوجوانی تا پایان زندگی. ترجمه یحیی سید­محمدی. تهران: ارسباران.
بنکدار، سروش (1394). بررسی میزان مطالعه شهروندان تهرانی. تهران: پژوهشگاه فرهنگ، هنر و ارتباطات.
پارکر، استفن (1382). جنبه­هایی از برنامه­ریزی توسعه کتابخانه. ترجمه علی شکویی، تهران: چاپار.
حریری، نجلا؛ اباذری، زهرا؛ و نصیری شفتی، رکسانا (1394). بررسی طرح ایستگاه مطالعه به عنوان اقدامی در جهت توسعه فرهنگی و اجتماعی از دیدگاه کاربران. پژوهش­های جامعه­شناختی، 9 (1)، 163-176.  
حسینی، یعقوب (1382). آمارناپارامتریک: روش تحقیق و نرم­افزار آماریSPSS 10. تهران: دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی.
سرمد، زهره؛ بازرگان، عباس؛ و حجازی، الهه (1385). روش­های تحقیق در علوم رفتاری. تهران: آگاه
صفوی، زینب (1393). کتابخوانی در مدار ایستگاه مطالعه (نگاهی به کتابخانه­های کوچک عمومی رایگان). فصلنامه تحلیلی پژوهشی کتاب مهر، 5(14)، 22-33.
مرادی، فاطمه (1395). بررسی میزان همخوانی منابع موجود در ایستگاه های مطالعه با نیازهای اطلاعاتی مراجعان آنها در شهر بوشهر در سال 1395 . پایان‌نامه کارشناسی ارشد، دانشگاه علوم پزشکی بوشهر.
معرف‌زاده، عبدالحمید؛ و ایرجی، شهرزاد (1389). بررسی عوامل ترغیب کننده و بازدارنده مطالعه در میان مراجعان کتابخانه‌های عمومی شهرستان ماهشهر. تحقیقات اطلاع رسانی و کتابخانه‌های عمومی، 16 (1)، 143-170.
مؤتمنی، علیرضا؛ همتی، امین؛ و مرادی، هادی (1391).شناسایی و اولویت بندی موانع جوانان در استفاده از خدمات کتابخانه‌های عمومی: مطالعه موردی شهرستان سمنان. تحقیقات اطلاع رسانی و کتابخانه‌های عمومی، 18(4)، 363- 368
مؤمنی، منصور؛ و فعال قیومی، علی (1389). تحلیل­های آماری با استفاده از اس پی اس اس. تهران: آگاه.
میرحسینی، زهره؛ و بهرامی، محمد (1391). بررسی میزان تأثیر کتابخانه تلفنی رنگین کمان شهرداری سمنان بر افزایش فرهنگ مطالعه کودکان و نوجوانان. تحقیقات اطلاع رسانی و کتابخانه­های عمومی، 18 (1)، 101-115.
نوکاریزی، محسن؛ نارمنجی، سیدمهدی؛ و دهقانی، کلثوم (1393). ارتباط بین سرمایه فرهنگی والدین و میزان استفاده فرزندان از مواد کتابخانه­ای کتابخانه­های عمومی استان خراسان جنوبی. تحقیقات اطلاع رسانی و کتابخانه­های عمومی، 20 (2)، 349-370.
واعظی، منصور (1390). طرح بررسی و سنجش شاخص­های فرهنگ عمومی کشور، (گزارش استان خراسان رضوی به سفارش فرهنگ عمومی کشور). فرهنگستان علوم اسلامی قم.
Abu, K.S. (2016). A case study on the reading habits of the central library users of Bharathidasan University. International Journal of Innovative Knowledge Concepts, 2(2), 1-4. Retrieved July 12, 2016, from https://ijikc.co.in/index.php/ijikc/article/view/137
Ahmed, S. (2015). Reading habits and attitudes of Umskal undergraduates. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 5(2), 189-207. Retrieved July 12, 2016, from http: //www.journals.aiac.org.au/index .php/IJALEL /article/view/2151
Kimberly, F.& Robinson, J. (2010). Daily routines in 22 countries: Diary evidence of average daily time spent in thirty activities. Technical paper. Center forTime Use Research. Retrieved September 5, 2016, from http://www.timeuse.org/sites/ctur/files/public/ctur_technical_paper/869/CTUR_Technical_Paper_2010-01.pdf.
Mohamed, M., Rahman, R., Tin, L.C., Hashim, H., Marof, H., Nasir, N., Zailani, N., Esivan, M., & Jumari, N. (2012). Reading behaviors of students in kolejDatinseriendon (KDSE). International Journal of Education Management, 26(4), 381-390. Retrieved November 10, 2015, from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ987431