Multikulturalne usluge hrvatskih narodnih knjižnica

U radu se predstavljaju rezultati istraživanja provedenog s ciljem utvrđivanja uloge hrvatskih narodnih knjižnica u suvremenomu multikulturalnom okruženju. Glavni je cilj istraživanja bio saznati na koji način hrvatske narodne knjižnice odgovaraju na izazove multikulturalnog društva, posebice u odnosu na prisutne etničke i nacionalne manjine. Podaci su prikupljeni uz pomoć kvantitativne metodologije (online upitnik) u drugoj polovici 2011. godine. Istraživanje je (djelomično) potvrdilo polaznu pretpostavku da su ispitanici (ravnatelji narodnih knjižnica) svjesni važne uloge svojih ustanova u multikulturalnom društvu, no da istovremeno hrvatske narodne knjižnice relativno slabo nude i promiču posebne usluge i građu za manjinske pripadnike svojih korisničkih zajednica. Budući da u Hrvatskoj do sada nije bilo sličnih istraživanja ovakvog obuhvata ovaj rad, i predložene preporuke, mogu pomoći hrvatskim narodnim knjižnicama u osmišljavanju i pružanju službi i usluga za multikulturalne zajednice, ali i potaknuti ih na suradnju sa značajnim knjižnicama i ustanovama u zemlji i inozemstvu. The paper presents the results of a study which examined the role of Croatian public libraries in the contemporary multicultural society. The main goal of the study was to find out how Croatian public libraries respond to challenges of their multicultural communities, particularly with the ethnic and national minorities. The data were gathered using the quantitative methodology (online questionnaire) in the second half of 2011. The results partially confirmed one of the authors’ hypotheses: the respondents (Croatian public libraries’ directors) are generally aware of the important role that a public library has in the modern multicultural society. However, it was also established that public libraries in Croatia, at the moment, do not provide (or promote) multicultural services as actively as expected. This is the first such study conducted in Croatia and its results, and resulting guidelines, can help public libraries in developing multicultural library collections and services, but also encourage them to collaborate more actively with all relevant institutions in their communities and wider, in order to provide better services for their users.