Annals of Library Science and Documentation 43,3; 1996; 108-115.

USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY: A CASE OF DEPOSIT HOLDERS OF VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICTCENTRAL LIBRARY

A survey study to identify usage pattern, readingbehaviour and other characteristics of deposit-holders of the District Central Library ofVisakhapatnam (India), are presented. For effec-tive services, it is necessary to reshape the libraryas a community-based agency.

INTRODUCTION

A library is an organisation, a system designed topreserve and facilitate use of recorded knowledgeor reading materials for every member of a soci-ety. It is the only orqanised social institution whichfosters the reading of books, extends facilities tothe mass literates, neo-literates and even illiter-ates for getting an opportunity to gain knowledgeto become better citizens and to develop amongthemselves a modern mental and scientific out-look while, at the same time, retaining the basicvalues of our ancient culture.

The public library as it is understood today is amulti-purpose informative, educative and culturalagency and is consiered to be an intellectualpower-house, which strives to fulfil and meet theeductional, cultural and informational needs of thepublic by providing documents containing infor-mation relating to their fields of specialization,activities, professions and occupations. It makesthem aware of the economic, social, cultural, andpolitical development that take place around themand is also considered to be an institution for rec-reational value for a positive use of their leisuretime.

The generalized roles of the pulic library as quotedin the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto [4] maybe divided into specific areas as educational, in-formational, cultural and recreational. The

M SATYANARAYANADr. V.S. Krishna LibraryAndhra UniversityVisakhapatnam-530 003

UNESCO Public Library Manifesto (revised ver-sion 1972) was further revised in 1994 [3] whereinit is stated that the constructive participation andthe development of democracy depends on satis-factory education as well as free and unlimitedaccess to knowledge, thought, culture and infor-mation. It describes ''the Public Library is a livingforce for education, culture and information" [2].The public library is the local centre of informa-tion, making all kinds of knowledge and informa-tion readily available to it's users. The services ofthe library are provided on the basis of equality ofaccess for all, regardless of age, sex, religion,nationality, language or social stat-us. Collectionsshould include the materials relevant to the needsof all age groups. The public library should be "es-tablished under the clear mandate of law, so framedas to ensure nationwide provision of public libraryservice. It should be maintained wholly from pub-lic funds, and no direct charge should be made toanyone for its services" [3].

A study on the characteristics of user's of publiclibrary, their usage pattern and reading behaviourmay help their development and required services.It is, in this context, that the present study wasundertaken to analyse the characteristics of de-posit-account holders-their reading behaviourand usage pattern of the Visakhapatnam DistrictCentral Library.

VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT CENTRAL LI-BRARY

The Visakhapatnam District Central Library, es-tablished in 1952 under the Madras Public Librar-ies Act, 1948, is located in Maharanipeta area ofVisakhapatnam city (India). It was taken over byVisakhapatnam Zila Grandhalaya Samstha con-

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USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY: A CASE OF DEPOSIT HOLDERS

stituted under the Andhra Pradesh Public Librar-ies Act, enacted by replacing the then existingMadras Public Libraries Act. The Visakhapatnam

Zila Grandhalaya Samstha is responsible fororganising and administering public libraries inVisakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh.

Table 1

Collection in each language

Language No. of Percentage Number of Percentagevolumes periodicals

Telgu 18,849 59.99 32 40.00English 13,100 38.23 47 58.75Hindi 1,030 3.00 00 0.00Urdu 90 0.26 01 1.25Other languages 1,207 3.52 00 0.00

Total 34,276 100.00 80 100.00

The library is housed in a building owned by theVisakhapatnam Zila Grandhalaya Samstha.

The periodicals include of 64 magazines and jour-nals and 16 dailies in Telugu and English.

The library has a stock of 34,276 books and boundvolumes of periodcials, mainly in four languages,namely Telugu, English, Hindi and Urdu (Table 1).

Table 2 gives the nature of collection of the library.

Table 2

Nature of collection in the library

Category No. of volumes Percentage in total collection

Children books 1,877 5.48Reference books 3,500 10.21Textbooks 995 2.90Books for neo-literates 1,500 4.38Bound periodicals 404 1.18Fiction books 19,000 55.43Other non-fiction books 7,000 20.42

Total 34,276 100.00

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M. SATYANARAYANA

The book stock is classified by Dewey DecimalClassification system and catalogued by ALACode. The periodical section of the library is keptopen for consultation from 7.00 am to 8.00 pm,and the lending section is kept open from 7.00a.m. to 11.00 a.m. The open-shelf system is ob-served in the library except in the case of refer-ence and some other special collections.

Membership of the library is free and open to all.The user who wants to borrow books should de-posit an amount of rupees ten. The books bor-rowed by deposit-holders are to be returned within14 days.

Otherwise, a fine of 6 paise, per day, after duedate is levied.

METHODOLOGYSurvey Method was used for collecting data forthe study. Table 3 gives composition of deposit-holders. It is interesting to note that professionalsconstitute only 9.91 percent of the borrowers. Busi-nessmen make up for 30.03 percent, the highestamong deposit-holders. This is because the sur-roundings of the library are having many shop-ping centres, and the businessmen use the librarymostly for fiction books for spending their leisure

Table 3

Composition of total deposit-holders

Deposit-Holders Number Percentage

Professionals(Layers, Engineers & 264 9.91Doctors)Farmers/ Agriculturists 150 5.63Businessmen 800 30.03Students 200 7.51Housewives 250 9.39Employees 750 28.15Unemployeds 250 9.38

Total 2,664 100.00

in the shops. The second highest (28.15%) isemployees. Students constitute 7.51%. This isbecause most of the academic institutions havetheir own libraries. Housewives comprise only9.39% and the unemployeds constitute 9.38% ofdeposit holders. More than half of the total num-ber of 2664 deposit holders did not use the libraryfor a long period. Their borrower books, number-ing 1384, were been withdrawn from the circula-tion counter and because they have not used orwithdrawn,. the membership from the library. Out

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of the remaining 1280 deposit-holders, 750 usethe library frequently and are considered as ac-tive deposit-holders. The questionnaire designedfor this study was distributed to 188 (25%) amongstsuch active deposit-holders. The names of activedeposit-holders were written on chits and were putin a container and thoroughly mixed. Then the re-quired number of chits were drawn from the con-tainer. The response from 150 (80%) active de-posit-holders could be recorded despite repeatedcalls.

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USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY: A CASE OF DEPOSIT HOLDERS

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

The age and sex of active respondants (Table 4)show that majority group is men (90.67%) and alow in percentage of women (9.33'1'0). It is alsonoticed that the majority of deposit-holders are

between the age group 14 to 40 years which showsthe active participation of youth in using the library.Even among such deposit-holders, majority arein the 21-30 years age group (44.12% for maleand 57.14% for female).

Table 4

Active deposit-holders by age and sex

Age Male Female TotalIn Years

No. Percentage No. Percentage No. Percentage

14-20 13 9.56 1 7.14 14 9.3321-30 60 44.12 8 57.14 60 45.3331-40 26 19.12 4 28.57 30 20.0041-50 11 8.09 0 0.00 11 7.3351-60 '12 8.92 1 7.14 13 8.67Above 60 14 10.29 0 0.00 14 9.33

136 100.00 14 99.99 150 99.99*(90.67%) *(9.33%)

• Percentage of lotal number of deposil holders

The educational levels of deposit-holders are clas-sified into six groups (Table 5). The group "others"includes persons possessing qualifications notsimilar to the other five groups. It is interesting tonote that the deposit-holders with collegiate edu-

cation (48.67%) is the largest, and the deposit-holders with primary education (2.00%) is thesmallest group. This indicates that persons withadvanced academic education constitute the coreusers among the deposit-holders.

Table 5

Educational level of active deposit-holders

Education Number Percentage

Primary 3 2.00High School 14 9.33College 73 48.67Post-Graduation 33 22.00Technical 25 16.67Others 2 1.44

Total 150 100.00

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M. SATYANARAYANA

Table 6 illustrates the occupational characteristicsof the deposit holders which shows that the em- .ployees belonging to government (39.33%), pri-vate (17.33%) and self-employment schemes(2.67%) are the majority groups. They may be

having interest in the development of their indi-viduality and enrichment of their knowledge andperhaps to secure better positions in their employ-ment and status in society.

Table 6

Occupational characteristics of active deposit-holders

Occupation Number Percentage

Government 59 39.33Private 26 17.33Self-employment 4 2.67Other type of employment 4 2.67Housewives 3 2.00Students 20 13.33Retired 20 13.33Unemployed persons 14 9.33

Total 150 100.00

Certain basic factors like frequency of using thelibrary and the extent of time spent in the libraryare determinants of the reading behaviour. It isobserved from Table 7 that the majority of deposit-holders visited the library once a week. There wasno marked difference in the frequency of visits tothe library by male and female deposit-holders.The highest percentage (38.97%) of male deposit-

holders visited the library once a week and thelowest percentage (1.47%) of them visited the li-brary rarely. It is surprising to observe that 28.5%of female population visited the library more thanonce a week and the same percentage also vis-ited the library once a week. The lowest percent-age (7.14%) of them visited the library rarely.

Table 7

Frequency of vjsits to the library

Male Female TotalFrequency of visits Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage

Daily 8 5.88 3 21.43 11 7.33More than

once a week 39 28.68 4 28.57 43 28.67Once a week 53 38.97 4 28.57 57 38.00Once a fortnight 23 16.91 2 14.29 25 16.67Once a month 11 8.09 0 0.00 11 7.33Rarely 2 1.47 1 7.14 3 2.00

Total 136 100.00 14 7.14 3 100.00

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USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY: A CASE OF DEPOSIT HOLDERS

The time spent in the library is one of the factorswhich determines the users reading behaviour andalso the library's facilities and collection. It is no-ticed from Table 8 that the majority of deposit-hold-ers have spent less than one hour in the library.Only 4% of them spent half of the opening hours

in library. This indicates that the majority of de-posit-holders do not prefer to spend more time inthe library. This may be due to the poor sitting andreading facilities in the library and also the poorcollection and organisation to facilitate access tothe required information.

Table 8

Time spent in the library

Male Female TotalTime Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage

Less than 53 46.32 10 71.43 73 48.67one hour

One hour 43 31.62 3 21.43 46 30.67More than 22 16.18 0 0.00 22 14.67

one hourHalf of the 5 3.68 1 7.14 6 4.00

opening hoursLonger 3 2.21 0 0.00 3 2.00

Total 136 100.00 14 100.00 150 100.00

Table 9

Purpose of visit to the library

Purpose of visit Male Female TotalNo. Percentage No. Percentage No. Percentage

To return books 111 81.62 9 64.29 120 80.00To renew books 31 22.79 8 57.14 39 26.00To borrow books 91 66.91 7 50.00 98 65.33To read newspapers 29 21.32 0 0.00 29 19.33To read magazines 28 20.59 2 14.29 30 20.00In connection with 11 8.09 1 7.14 12 8.00

formal course of studyIn connection with 8 5.88 0 0.00 8 5.33

occupation/workTo spend leisure time 4 2.94 0 0.00 4 2.67To read novels/books 11 8.09 1 7.14 12 8.00Any other purpose 3 2.21 1 7.14 4 2.67

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M. SA TYANARA YANA

It is observed from Table 9 that the highest per-centage of deposit-holders visited the library forborrowing and returning of books. The secondhighest purpose was for reading newspapers andmagazines. The responses of deposit-holdersexceed the sample number because they visit thelibrary for more than one purpose. More oftenmajority of deposit-holders borrow books for rec-reational purposes.

Due to enormous increase of reading materialsand chanelising them to the appropriate place, itis important to know 110tonly what type peopleread but also the purpose for which they read and

what they read.

Majority of deposit-holders read books to improvetheir knowledge (Table 10). The next popular pur-pose is to develop their individuality, followed bypassing of time and entertainment.

This analysis indicates that most of the deposit-holders use books for the purpose of knowledqsand development of individuality. It is an encour-aging trend that the library is considered as anagency for promoting popular culture and educa-tion. This issue is important for developing ser-vices of public libraries.

Table 10

Purpose of library use

Purpose Male Female TotalNo. Percentage No. Percentage No. Percentage

Entertainment 12 8.82 6 42.86 18 12.00Passing examinations 4 2.94 0 0.00 4 2.67Improvement of Job 2 1.47 0 0.00 2 1.33

competenceDevelopment of 38 27.94 3 21.43 41 27.33

individualityCultivation of 52 38.23 5 35.71 57 38.00

knowledgeTo pass time 24 17.66 0 0.00 24 16.00Any other purpose 4 2.94 0 0.00 4 2.67

Total 136. 100.00 14 100.00 150 100.00

CONCLUSION

A public library's subject coverage is universaland should meet the need of the community. Onthe contrary, the collection of the VisakhapatnamDistrict Central Library comprising of a lion's shareof fiction literature is not well-rounded because ofinappropriate ratio of a large number of popularsubjects in the collection. The UNESCO Public

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Library Manifesto stated that "the total collectionshould include material on all subjects to satisfyall tastes at different educational and cultural stan-dards. All languages used by the communityshould be represented and there should be booksof world importance in their original languages"[4]. A good publiclibrary collection should aim notonly to have materials on all subjects, but alsosatisfy the educational, informational, cultural, and

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USE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY: A CASE OF DEPOSIT HOLDERS

recreational needs of the community. The unbal-anced collection of the District Central Library ofVisakhapatnam does not represent adequately tomeet either occupational need or socio-economicprofile of the deposit-holders. Approximately 80%of the loaned books are fiction literature. An aver-age number of 41 books are issued to the deposit-holders in a working day. Most of the deposit -hold-ers come to the library to read mazagines andnewspapers in addition to borrowing books. Thereis a need for interaction between the communityand the library for providing effective services. Itis to re-shape the library as a community-basedagency based on i) the task of information dis-semination for socio-economic and educationalneeds of the' community; and ii) capacity to stimu-late the community to utilize proper information inthe solution of problems.

The development and provision of responsivecommunity-based services are not the exclusive

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concern of the library profession. The communityshould appreciate this and provide the neededsupport to the library. The support and coopera-tion of the community .and Government are es-sential to develop a library as an effective com-munity-based agency.

REFERENCES1. TREHAN (C L): Library services for a devel-

oping society. ILA Bull. 16, 1-2; 1980; 45,

2. KAllA (D R) et al. Guidelines for public librarysystems and services. Granthana. 2, 1; 1991;34.

3. GATTEGNO (Jean): UNESCO public librarymanifesto. Libri. 44,2; 1994; 165.

4. UNESCO. Public library manifesto. Lib. Assoc.Rec. 75,1; 1973;7.

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