الملخص الإنجليزي
The study aimed to identify the status of information services in the children's
public library by identifying parents' perceptions about the information services
provided by these libraries. The study also investigated the set of motivating
factors and challenges that affect the performance of its tasks, activities, and
its work plans to achieve its stated goals. The study also attempts to identify
the degree to which the information services provided by the Children's Public
Library comply with the general guidelines of The International Federation of
Library Associations (IFLA). A multi-design approach was adopted including
the use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interview as tools for data
collection. The study target included both parents and the library staff. The
questionnaires were distributed to parents who visit the children's public library
during certain periods of time while the researcher is present. Of the 700
questionnaires that were distributed, 501 questionnaires were retrieved, and
the semi-standardized interviews were conducted with all of the nine
employees working inside the library building.
The results of the study showed that there is consensus in the parents'
perceptions of the information services provided and mostly at a high degree
in the areas of building and facilities, human resources, and information
sources while the field of library services and activities received a medium level
of acceptance. The results also indicated the presence of several motivating
factors that helped the library succeed, such as management, manpower, and
resources. The results also revealed a set of challenges that affect the
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provision of information services, the most challenging were human factors,
limited activities, and the set of library activities and programs, in addition to
the unbalanced information sources. As for the future directions, the results
indicated that the library sought to work out some more activities and programs,
increase the number of information sources, and provide better services for
people with special needs. In view of the compatibility of the information
services provided by the Children's Public Library with the general guidelines
of the IFLA Organization, the results concluded that there is a consensus
except in the fourth axis of the third part which refers to the compatibility of
the website and the digital content of the library with WCAG 2.0 (of the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines) which sits at unacceptable level.
The study concluded with a set of recommendations, the most important
amongst is the creation of a database that maintain inputs of parents' names,
addresses, names of children benefiting from the library, and their ages. This
will help ensuring the provision of advanced and sustainable information
services to them, whether these are resources, workshops, or events, as well
as organizing seminars related to libraries, information, and reading activities
related to children
