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The paper proposes a new methodological approach to collection evaluation in public libraries, with the aim to read bibliographic and usage data in a less self-referential way and to improve collection development and management. Behind this approach there are two integrated types of analysis. The first one is a quantitative and qualitative benchmarking between different library collections: the attention focuses on the size of collections, the variety, the publishers, the subjects, the circulation data. The second type of analysis concerns the benchmarking between library collections and editorial production. Also in this case, the comparison covers the quantitative aspects (number of books selected by libraries and number of books published), the qualitative aspects (subjects, types of documents, Conspectus levels) and the usage data (loans and sales). The paper illustrates the results of a first and experimental application of this methodological approach for the analysis of collection portions of 26 public libraries (belonged to two Italian library systems), that are compared with the editorial production of the subject area Social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper illustrates the results of a survey conducted in the period January-February 2023 involving the users of the Turin Public Libraries, an urban system currently affected by a significant strategic rethinking process. Through the analysis of the answers to questionnaire provided by 3,926 people, it was possible to bring to light the complexity and the multidimensionality of the act of reading and to gather interesting information on three central issues: the process that leads readers to choose the book; the libraries' role in fostering and enriching the reading experience; the complementarity between book and other form of access to narrative world, both outside and within libraries. These cognitive elements can help both to improve the collection development policies and to favor the meeting between readers and collections, also through their integrated and transmedial organization within an enriched physical and virtual bibliographic space, which stimulates and enhances the reading experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to analyse the space of reading by specifically targeting an adequate environment: the public library. Here, reading can be grasped in its social dimension and its multiform nature. Given that reading can be understood within the context of the public library, the very act of reading can be considered a decoding exercise within the library itself. This article explains some interpretative approaches that regard the public library as a dense space by connecting heuristic possibilities offered through sociological knowledge and through the lens of the social imaginary. Moving from sociological implications of the public library and the awareness that the imaginary reconfigures and synthesizes relationships and meanings between physical and literary spaces, the research will analyze the visible and invisible aspects of the field in which the library can be subject to social representation, while still keeping its active character of producing meaning through literary spaces as well as through the exhibition and the organization of the library's collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world of publishing distribution has increasingly become an object of interest for both industrial production and the readers. The recent past showed that books must be selected carefully not only by bookshop managers for their buyers, but also by libraries for their users. Libraries themselves are examined in their relation with publishing distribution: the paper presents an initial analysis of the process enacted to pursue the goal that each individual title may fruitfully contribute to the growth of the whole library collection. The research considers only the acquisition of print monographs from some of the most important suppliers of both public and academic libraries; with these vendors it was possible to entertain a crucial and essential direct discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectius. Descriure els documents i els recursos de suport bibliogràfic que fonamenten el desenvolupament de les col·leccions a les biblioteques del Sistema de Lectura Pública de Catalunya (polítiques documentals, serveis d'informació, etc.). I valorar quins són els procediments i les intervencions que poden reforçar els discursos bibliotecaris sobre les col·leccions de les biblioteques. -- Metodologia. Es fa una anàlisi dels documents de política de col·lecció de les biblioteques objecte d'estudi, així com dels serveis de suport bibliogràfic que participen en la configuració del fons de les biblioteques públiques. La lectura de les tendències apuntades per diferents especialistes internacionals en la matèria serveix de fonament per apuntar un horitzó d'expectatives del treball bibliotecari sobre les col·leccions. -- Resultats. Es constata la feblesa de la nostra tradició bibliotecària pel que fa a la redacció de documents formals de polítiques de col·lecció, així com la manca d'un treball cooperatiu que doni visibilitat i exploti les competències i el coneixement dels professionals bibliotecaris sobre l'oferta bibliogràfica. Les anàlisis dels experts apunten entre les línies estratègiques del futur de la biblioteca l'enfortiment del seu paper de mediadora i d'orientadora de continguts; les oportunitats són bones, tanmateix, les estratègies que permetrien sumar i rendibilitzar esforços encara estan per definir.