Library culture, library climate, and library productivity: An exploratory study.

摘要

This exploratory study was undertaken to identify the constructs of library culture, library climate, and library productivity and to develop instruments to measure these constructs. The study was conducted in three separate phases: (a) Definition and construct identification phase, (b) Instrument development and refinement phase, and (c) Field test phase. Six constructs of library culture, library climate, and library productivity were identified. I was given assistance from 15 school library media specialists in identifying these constructs. Once the constructs were identified, three inventories and three interview protocols were developed to measure the constructs. The instruments were field tested in nine schools in Tennessee--three elementary, three middle, and three high schools. The inventories were administered to the teachers and other professional staff, except the media specialist and the principal. These individuals as well as students were interviewed.;The data analyzed and findings were presented for each phase of the study. Because this was an exploratory study, further testing of the instruments was recommended. Overall, the elementary schools in the sample received the highest mean scores. The interview findings were highly correlated to the findings of the inventories, because the principals, students, and library media specialists who were interviewed, generally, made more positive remarks concerning the culture, climate, and productivity of elementary school library media centers.;The new guidelines for school library media centers challenge the profession to look for new ways of evaluating school library media centers which would provide qualitative as well as quantitative data. The inventories and interview protocols developed for this study provide both types of data. For this reason, this study might be considered a first step at meeting this identified need.