A Model of Urban Public Library Service for Underserved Groups

This chapter describes the present conditions of our aging society, with a particular focus on Japan as a typical example of such a society. In Japan, one in every four individuals is over 65 years of age, and one in eight is over 75 years of age. Further, based on this demographic change to an older population, this chapter discusses a new library service designed to enhance the lives of elderly citizens. The authors explore this new service from the viewpoint of lifelong learning, utilizing the results of recent government surveys and some case studies, such as those done at the Izumo City Hikawa Library and the Akita Prefectural Library in Japan. Although the elderly have been placed within the category of “disabled library patrons,” in recent years, it has become more common to consider the elderly, as a whole, as an individual service category. We should, in the near future, pay more attention to supporting elderly citizens at public libraries to engage them in the development and maintenance of their own communities.

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Virtual Communities: A Global Resource

Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes du congrès annuel de l'ACSI ◽

10.29173/cais488 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Shawna Hellenius ◽

Ann Curry

Keyword(s):

Internet Use ◽

Virtual Communities ◽

Public Library ◽

Log Analysis ◽

Municipal Services ◽

Library Service ◽

Contact Information

Building communities within communities has always been a public library service. Libraries have traditionally facilitated this through gatherings in library meeting rooms and dissemination of contact information about local clubs and municipal services, but virtual Internet-based communities can now provide a powerful, more wide-ranging avenue for customer to customer communication. Transaction log analysis of Internet use...

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Public Libraries in Ireland II. Public libraries and the visual arts today

Art Libraries Journal ◽

10.1017/s0307472200011779 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 41-44

Author(s):

Deirdre Ellis-King ◽

Marjory Sliney

Keyword(s):

Visual Arts ◽

Public Libraries ◽

Public Library ◽

Cultural Institutions ◽

Library Service ◽

The Public ◽

Library Network ◽

The Many

In recent years increased interest in the visual arts has led public libraries to increase stock to support this area, to organise exhibitions and to make connections with other arts-related bodies. The recognised extent, quality and value of the public library network lie both in its service to users and in good-quality and centrally located buildings. Imaginative links have been made between the library service and other cultural institutions in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, particularly in the many thinly populated areas of the country which could otherwise be isolated from the cultural facilities available in the larger conurbations.

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