Search

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to build on limited understandings of how readers engage with non-fiction. Drawing from prior research and three recent case studies involving non-fiction reading, this paper considers heterogeneity in modes of reading and the central role of libraries in fostering non-fiction reading cultures.Design/methodology/approach Findings from three recent case studies of non-fiction reading about relationship advice; developmental disorders; and financial planning, based on qualitative interviews, participant observation and survey data, are used to assess and expand understandings of non-fiction reading and collections.Findings There is considerable heterogeneity in modes of non-fiction reading, and readers often appropriate non-fiction texts for purposes unintended by the authors. Both physical and online libraries function as sites where non-fiction reading can be used by a broad range of demographic groups to participate in individual or group-based resistance to structural and cultural sources of power and inequality.Practical implications This paper provides insight into the role and value of non-fiction collections.Social implications Findings speak to the value of robust funding for print and online non-fiction collections in communities and schools.Originality/value This paper offers new empirical and theoretical insight into how non-fiction collections are used by a range of demographic groups in community and school contexts. Sociological theories are introduced to highlight the role of non-fiction collections in facilitating social change at individual and group levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to problematise the basis of the use of non-fiction as an explanatory category in libraries that have mandates to deliver information to civil society users to initiate debate on its ongoing value.Design/methodology/approach A range of literature from the fields of information science, philosophy, literary studies and the sociology of knowledge was critically surveyed to uncover reasons for the use of the non-fiction concept when librarians are dealing with documentary knowledge. A process of thematisation of relevant material was then conducted using a methodology informed by historicist and hermeneutic-phenomenological approaches to social scientific inquiry.Findings The extreme simplicity of the concept of non-fiction masks a complex range of factors associated with common sense understanding of life and our conceptualisation of what constitutes knowledge in civil society information environments. By restricting the nature of questions associated with knowledge and documentary knowledge the non-fiction concept contributes to a far too narrow view of how these concepts interrelate.Practical implications Preliminary reasons are offered for why the non-fiction concept is problematic, and an alternative discursive formation is put forward which may enable more fruitful caretaking of documentary collections in school and public libraries.Originality/value This paper helps to open discussion among collection management theorists and practitioners regarding how the concept of documentary knowledge can be more usefully theorised so that it is better able to support the epistemic learning and socialisation goals of libraries characterised by their civil society setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life-long reading has positive effects on our lives and health. This study examines the ways in which adult library patrons read today. Using circulation statistics from four public libraries in the north suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, we explore the differences in reader preferences between traditional print reading (print book checkouts) and e-reading (eBook downloads). This data analysis provides insights on adult patrons' use of public libraries today (i.e. the most likely genre to be checked out are fiction and the preferred reading method is print). This paper also offers some practical suggestion on libraries' collection development, as well as readers' engagement and retention as they relate to technological advancements on book format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of how to select a mix of subjects for a public library collection that facilitates a holistic representation of knowledge is grounded in the question of how subjective choice can adequately suffice when a selector lacks specialised domain awareness. This paper advocates bringing hermeneutic insight to bear upon the interpretation of subject priority to create a more defined link between objectivity in knowledge organisation and the promotion of a more generalised communal understanding. The paper also outlines how knowledge domains that are considered appropriate to civil society settings can be manifested in the acts of selecting and evaluating collections and how, through bracketing these choices, a more reflexive practice might be achieved. A conceptual innovation is offered which combines the linking of a hermeneutic approach to subject knowledge with comparative meta-collection analysis, utilising the WorldCat union catalogue, to help optimise the range and depth of available information in public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated readers' experiences of critical thinking and reading, comparing fiction and nonfiction. As previous research has shown links between fiction reading and increased social and cognitive capacities, and such capacities are argued to be necessary for critical thinking, this study sought to explore a potentially unique relationship between reading fiction and critical thinking, as distinct from nonfiction. In depth interviews were conducted with participants who self-identified as readers (N = 12). Each reader was interviewed twice, first in a general discussion of their reading and critical thinking experiences, and secondly with reference to a text they selected to read. An open, iterative coding process yielded 10 codes from the data, forming five categories. These show links between reading experiences and critical thinking, the integration of critical thought into the reading experience through transportation into the text, and also differentiate fiction from nonfiction influences. Nonfiction was valued for its directness, assessable authorship, and questioning. Fiction was found to uniquely drive critical evaluations through the subtle and circuitous way it presented ideas, its complication of veracity, as well as giving rich and deep understandings of the real world. These findings suggest fiction reading experiences are connected with critical thinking in ways distinct to nonfiction, and as such could be an avenue for promoting critical thinking across society through public library provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten public libraries were surveyed to evaluate access for young children, aged 4 1/2 to 6 years, to age appropriate informational picture books. Location of books, types of shelving, and displays were noted for both fiction and informational books, and unobtrusive observations of young children browsing were conducted in three of the libraries. The findings confirmed children's preference for books in eye level face front shelving in high traffic areas especially near the children's area seating; most children did not explore far from parents. Visits by children to hardcover fiction, paperback fiction, and paperback informational picture books, were balanced. However, hardcover informational picture books were missed due to less accessible locations, oversize shelving, and fewer displays. The role of accompanying parents in finding materials was pivotal. Improving access for young children to a wide variety of books in their public libraries supports both recreational and educational needs, and needs to be considered in library layout. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]