Information Behavior of Children Using Public Libraries in Taiwan and Indonesia

Abstract

Parents as primary socialization agents have a major influence on the development of children. The facilities that can be used to maximize child development are libraries. Libraries are information centers that help meet information needs. This research aims to identify information behavior of children using public libraries in Taiwan and Indonesia and the role of parents as a child's primary socialization agents for library utilization. This study was conducted in Taichung City-Taiwan and Surabaya-Indonesia. Both cities are cities of literation and the second largest cities in each country. The libraries provided in both cities have special services for children. The method used is descriptive research with purposive sampling. The samples were parents who had invited their children to the library at least 2 times in the last month. Questionnaires were given directly to parents in the children's library services. The number of respondents was 200 respondents: 100 in Taichung-Taiwan and 100 in Surabaya-Indonesia. In addition to the collection of primary data through questionnaires, data collection was also conducted via interviews with the library staff, library website, and other secondary data. The results of this study show that the role of parents is very significant to increase child’s interest in reading through the use of libraries. Therefore, it is necessary for libraries to invite parents to socialize the utilization of the library to meet the information needs of children.

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