Children’s participation in decision-making about library development: Experience in sociological analysis

Abstract

The article examines the functions that modern libraries perform and substantiates the need for transforming and modernizing the space of children’s libraries in order to make them more appealing, improve their image, and attract the interest of the general public to this type of institutions. The following key trends of information and library services for children are outlined: the coexistence of electronic and printed books in the life of a modern child; the evolution of practical reading skills in the modern world (associated with the use of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, etc.); new forms and methods of working with children and adolescents in the context of digital technology development; changes in the nature of library and information services, and the new competence requirements for librarians due to the introduction of new technologies, including Web 2.0; an increasing transfer of library services to the virtual space. The paper presents methodological approaches of participating sociology that are most suitable for studying children’s views on possible changes in libraries. The authors demonstrate the advantages of applying child-friendly methods (drawing method, unfinished sentence method) and conducting polls for adolescents. The methods presented in the article are used to collect and study the opinions of readers from different age groups. It is easy for groups of adolescents to fill out an anonymous questionnaire. The most suitable method for preschool-age readers is the drawing technique, which allows a child who has not yet mastered the skill of written language to give answers to the researcher’s questions in an accessible and understandable form. For primary school children, the drawing technique can be supplemented by the method of unfinished sentences. It is also noted that, when composing surveys for children and adolescents, the basic approaches and requirements to compiling questionnaires for minors should be observed.