Study On The Grass-root Libraries’Service To The Disadvantaged Groups

With the acceleration of harmonious society construction in our country, the disadvantaged groups are receiving great care and much attention. Protection of the basic rights of disadvantaged groups reveals the human-oriented nature of harmonious society. Protection of disadvantaged groups’ cultural interests is the responsibility and liability of public libraries which should actively improve the disadvantaged groups’ cultural life, and play their roles in construction of harmonious society. Accordingly, paying attention to the knowledge poverty of disadvantaged groups, easing the unbalanced distribution of information, facilitating social integration are the urgent tasks for the development of contemporary libraries. As the major part of public library service, grass-root libraries should adheres to the spirit of public library and serve the disadvantaged groups well. Through displaying the social influence of grass-root libraries, it is expected to promote the communication and understanding of different social groups, eliminate social discrimination, and facilitate social integration.Based on reviewing of huge quantity of literature, and the basic situation that the grass-root libraries are serving the disadvantaged groups, this thesis analyzes the achievements made by the grass-root libraries and the problems existing thereof. Moreover, through questionnaire investigation on some area, the reasons influencing the disadvantaged groups’use of library information, based on which countermeasures for improving the service of grass-root library’s service to disadvantaged group are proposed.This thesis consists of five parts. The first part of this article introduces the research background and significance of this thesis, and reviews the domestic and foreign actuality of grass-root libraries’ serving the disadvantaged groups, the research thread and objectives are also clarified. Part2analyzes the composition reality of the disadvantaged groups in our country from the perspective of sociology, and summarizes the changing principles of disadvantaged groups in recent years, while the reasons for the existence of disadvantage social groups are analyzed as well. Part3mainly focuses on discussing the possibilities of serving the disadvantaged groups by the grass-root libraries, and distribution advantages and public welfare advantages of serving the disadvantaged groups by grass-root libraries are analyzed based on the theories of library science. Later from the perspective of receivers of grass-root library and the library collected resources, the social inclusion functions of libraries are analyzed, further the necessity and social influence of serving the disadvantaged groups by grass-root libraries are explored. Part4mainly summarizes the major achievements made by grass-root libraries in serving the disadvantaged groups, such as the operation mode of general and branch libraries, which can not only make full use of the library resources, but also solve some basic problems of grass-root libraries, offering information services to the society everywhere. Next the problems existing in the development process of grass-root libraries are concluded. In order to understand the specific situation of grass-root libraries’service to the disadvantaged groups, the author performed a questionnaire investigation focusing on the disadvantaged groups’utilization of library resources, the result from which indicates that the disadvantaged groups are generally lacking the sense of information and having weak ability in information acquisition, accordingly restricting their use of library resources. Combining the literature reviews, the author further analyzes the specific reasons influencing the disadvantaged groups’use of library information resources. In Part4, based on the problems presented in the previous parts, countenneasures are proposed from the perspectives of local government and grass-root libraries. It is recommended to establish improved laws and financial grantee system by the local governments, promote the cooperation between grass-root libraries and social institutions, reinforce the publicity strength of grass-root libraries, learn from the management mode of general and branch libraries, offer trainings to disadvantaged groups, and improve their abilities in information acquisition. The last part is the conclusion part which summarizes the innovation points and deficiencies of this research, and provides the vision of future development of grass-root libraries’ service to the disadvantaged groups.