Public libraries as a venue for cultural participation in the eyes of the visitors

1. Public libraries as a venue for
cultural participation in the eyes
of the visitors
Mai Põldaas
@Cultural Institutions and Communication: Towards Creative Participation,
VMU in Kaunas, 23 October 2014

2. Public libraries in Estonia
• The oldest public library in Estonia dates
back to 1552
• The total number of public libraries in
Estonia is 551, among them
– 20 central libraries,
– 50 city libraries and
– 449 village libraries

3. Public libraries in Estonia (2)
• 47% of citizens in the
last twelve months
have visited a public
library at least once
– Estonian population is
1.3 million people
• ~384,000 regular
users of public library
services
• Main services are free
of charge

4. The aim of the study
• To investigate the understandings of the
roles of a public library and perceived
usefulness of the library services

5. Research questions
• How do visitors of Estonian public libraries
see the role of a public library as a place
for different cultural participation?
• What they know of the libraries roles and
how do they perceive the fulfilment of
these roles?

6. Context for the study
• Changes in society, in
the media and
information landscape
• Public libraries’ roles
are changing
• Old versus new
services and
understandings
• Maker spaces

7. Methodology
• Qualitative research methods were used
• For the data collection, 15 semi-structured
interviews were conducted with public
library visitors
– from different age groups and type of public
libraries

8. Interview participants
Map of Estonia, taken from: http://www.estonia-tallinn.com/estonia.htm

9. Methodology (2)
• To analyse the interview data, the
constructivist grounded theory developed
by K. Charmaz (2006) was applied
• By that the stress was placed on a
participant’s definitions on terms, situations
and events, while focusing on his or her
assumptions, implicit meanings and tacit
rules

10. Methodology (3)
• Line-by-line coding was done
• The ways in which library roles are identified
give points of departure and bring out
differences and similarities that help to
position the identity of library visitors
• Next various differences and similarities are
used in the process of axial coding as
conditions or situations that form the
structure of the studied phenomena

11. Results
Expectations and understandings for the
roles of a public library seem to be
grounded in four following characteristics:
• Library as a cultured place
• A place where to socialize
• Library as place
• A service in transition / that helps in
transition

12. Results (2)
Library as a cultured
place
• “Bring people closer
to literature” (VV3)
• “Meetings with
writers, exhibitions”
(K2, K3, VV1, VV2,
VV4, VL1, VL2)
• “In a small place it is
the center of culture”
(K3, VV1)

13. Results (3)
A place where to
socialize
• “Meet other people,
can talk with them, do
something together”
(VV3, VV5, K2, K5)
• “Community meetings
bring local people
together” (K2, K4)

14. Results (4)
Library as place
• “It is like a ritual, if I go
to the library” (VL1)
• “I come to the library,
browse materials and
choose based on my
current mood” (VV3)
• “The place for self-education
– where else
can a grown-up go?”
(K4)

15. Results (5)
A service in transition
• “Ebooks will replace printed
books, if there’s plenty of
them to choose from, but
they will not replace all of
them” (VL3)
• “From internet I follow the
materials I do not have
access in printed form” (VL5,
VV4, K2)
• “Library is not a club, a place
for a recording studio or
concerts” (VL1, VL2, VV3)

16. • For more, read the paper! 
• The research continues – to investigate
more about the role of a public library in
nowadays Estonia

17. • Thank you!
• Any comments, questions?
• mai.poldaas@ut.ee
• Institute of Social Studies, UT
*All photos used, are taken by the presenter