No.1 “Training of Library Services for Children: Now and for the Future” (September 30, 2011)

Summary

This is an analysis report of the results of the questionnaire “Research on Implementation Status of Training Programs related to Children’s Services in Prefectural Libraries,” conducted by the International Library of Children’s Literature (ILCL) in FY2010. In this questionnaire research, in addition to implementation systems including budgets and staff of training programs in each prefectural library, specifics of each training program of each library done in FY2009, including names, organizers, targets, courses, etc. were surveyed.

This report consists of the following six chapters:

  • Chapter 1 describes the objectives and the background of the questionnaire, and the purpose of this report.
  • Chapter 2 summarizes the previous research, followed by an explanation of the outline of the research including its target, method, collection rate, design and format of the questionnaire.
  • Chapter 3 introduces distinguished features revealed by the research. It was found, for example, that there was a great difference among libraries in regard to how training programs were carried out: the number of staff members in charge of children’s services ranged from zero to eight; budgets for training programs related to children’s services ranged from zero to over 1,000,000 yen; the number of dispatches of prefectural library staff to other libraries as lecturers ranged from zero to over 80.
  • Chapter 4 categorizes all the training programs in the replies that were carried out in FY2009 into three types according to their contents (specialized in children’s services or not) and implementation method (training programs for several days or not), etc., analyzes the course composition of each type in detail, and examines the basic skills necessary for staff involved in children’s services.
  • Chapter 5 presents the distinctive training programs of some prefectural libraries as reference examples to supplement the results of the research.
  • Chapter 6 is written by Teruyo Horikawa, an advisor of this research and professor of Aoyama Gakuin Women’s Junior College, on the challenges and prospects of training programs related to children’s services in prefectural libraries.
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