A study of elementary school students' use of libraries for study and leisure reading in Taichung City, Taiwan, the Republic of China

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which children in the intermediate and upper grades use the library for study and leisure reading in Taichung City, Taiwan, the Republic of China. Specifically, the study attempted to determine the differences in library use and leisure reading attributable to sex, grade level and geographical area. The sample for the study consisted of 825 4th- and 6th-grade students, 437 boys and 388 girls, from 10 public elementary schools in Taichung City. The data were collected with a closed-form type questionnaire titled, "Children's Use of Libraries for Studies and Leisure Reading," developed by the researcher. Major conclusions were as follows: (1) elementary schools and teachers in more urban areas are not as likely to take their students to the school library as suburban schools and teachers; (2) as children become older, they have less opportunity and receive less guidance in using the school library; (3) the regular classroom teachers provide more help on children's use of the school library than do teacher-librarians; (4) school libraries need to attend more to student needs and interests in future acquisition; (5) while all children seem to have a very positive attitude toward using the library and leisure reading, girls have a higher interest than boys. The attitudes of girls versus boys were quite similar to those found in the United States; (6) urban children's library skills are superior to those of suburban children; (7) children's book choices indicate a need for excitement and entertainment rather than a thirst for knowledge or a love of literature; (8) home and friends rather than libraries are children's greatest sources of reading materials; (9) urban children read a wider variety of materials for leisure reading than do suburban children; and (10) library selection groups need to have more open communication related to the appeal of comic books. In overview, the study indicated that crowded urban conditions in Taiwan seem to contribute to rather than detract from children's desire to read. However, in the United States, reading is not as preferred by urban children as by suburban children.