The University of Chicago Public Library - Essay Example

Observational study of of Chicago public library OBSERVATIONL STUDY OF OF CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY Introduction My place of choice for the observational study was the University of Chicago Public Library located in the state of Chicago. This place attracted me because of the vast majority of people who make use of it for studying and other purposes. It is also easily accessible, and the staffs working there are very friendly. The environment within that area is very quiet and peaceful in nature. The first thing one gets to observe while outside the library is the constant inflow and outflow of people. Area of study and the general description I happened to visit the Chicago Public Library on 23rd and 24th of February 2014 at ten and eleven in the morning respectively until one in the afternoon. I was quite astonished at how big the building was. It was mainly composed of solid bricks and bits of concrete. It looked firm and solid. The library environs were well kempt with the grass neatly cut and beautiful flowers making the area more attractive and welcoming. Little activity was noticed outside the library, as everyone seemed to be either going in or coming out. Once I got inside the library, I could notice how tall the building was with a series of floors. It was well organized with the books neatly arranged on the shelves and the chairs aligned in a way as to minimize any disturbance. The librarian desk was on the left side of the entrance, and she seemed to be busy serving people. The place was very quiet with everyone seeming to be busy doing whatever they were doing, either typing or browsing using their laptops and some reading(Aabø & Audunson, 2012). I decided to take a seat at a certain corner to the left side, inside the library so at to observe further the various activities going on. One thing I could easily take notice off was the cream colour of the walls of the library. The cream colour made the library appear more calm and neat. The seating arrangement allowed for easy movement of people from one point of the library to the other with the least disturbance. The shelves were filled with lots of books that were neatly arranged according to the various subjects. This allowed for easy access to the books. Type of people and their behaviour There were many people seated in the library. I could notice the different races seated from the Caucasians, the black Americans, and Indians. Some could come into the library wearing casual, and others were official in nature. It was difficult to establish the occupation of the people inside the library. They were in large numbers; those in the ground floor alone were approximately three hundred. There was minimal interaction between these people each seemed to be busy studying on their own and were less interested in what their neighbours or other people were doing. Most of the people were young probably between the age of eighteen and twenty-eight years. The young were particularly observed to be more casual in their dressing than their older counterparts. Interactions Interaction was observed between the librarian and the other people. There were those who came to borrow books, and there were those who came to return them. I could notice how the librarian could make use of the computers as the books exchanged hands. The interaction looked very healthy as the librarian was friendly and welcoming. There were also the security personnel who ensured that there was smooth running of activities within the library. There was minimal interaction between the security personnel and those seated busy studying or busy browsing using their laptops (Catlow, Górny, & Lewandowski, 2009). Language spoken The language used for communication was English despite the many ethnic groups present in the library. English was used by the librarians as they served those who returned and those who took the books. It seemed to be understandable to all. The strange behaviour I observed was that people could steal glances of other people within the library. This mainly occurred among those of the opposite sex. There was some discrepancy between the school’s library and the one in I was doing my research on. The Chicago Public University was more silent with fewer activities. The Chicago Public University had diversity when it came to various ethnic groups and also lots of books. It was also much bigger in size thus it could accommodate a large number of people. It was also observed that there was a larger ratio of men to women in the Chicago Public Library as compared to the school’s library. Treatment of customers The customers were treated in a friendly manner; this was easily noticed when they went over the counter to meet the librarian. The librarian would ask some few questions and then feed some data concerning the book being borrowed on a computer. When all that was complete, the librarian would hand over the book to the customer accompanied with a smile. In case there was any misunderstanding, the librarian would explain it over to the customer politely. Generally, the treatment of customers was fair. The relationship between the customer and the workers was good because no quarrelling was observed over the period of study. Constant interaction among the librarians was evident especially when they were not busy serving the customers. The security guards and the students rarely got into any confrontation as it seemed that the students understood the rules and regulations of the library thus a healthy relationship was maintained. Strange behaviours and feelings concerning the research The constant stealing of glances among readers of the opposite sex seemed like a peculiar behaviour to me inside the library. It looked like there was some form of attraction among some readers especially the youthful ones. This made them pay less attention to whatever they were doing at that particular time, whether they were browsing or reading. I felt good undertaking the observational research as I could observe the vast diversity of people within the library and how people are fond of the reading culture. It felt good to notice how attractions between people easily develop while one is busy doing other things. The constant interaction between the librarians and the readers also got me to appreciate how friendliness was of paramount importance when it came to service delivery. It also got me to appreciate the need for organization of self since through it order is easily maintained. This was the case with the books on the shelf and how well they were organized (Gross & Leslie, 2008). Conclusion Finally, there were a number of problems I encountered while I carried out the research. First, being the long hours of sitting in one particular corner. This brought in the aspect of boredom and monotony. The other problem was to figure out whatever language the various ethnic groups that were in the library were speaking. Despite these few problems, the research was a success. References Aabø, S., & Audunson, R. (2012). Use of library space and the library as place. Library and Information Science Research, 34, 138–149. Catlow, J., Górny, M., & Lewandowski, R. (2009). Keyword binding as a method of reducing the length of indexes in library catalogues (based on the experience of Digital Library of Wielkopolska). Biblioteka. Uniwersytet Im. Adama Mickiewicza W Poznaniu, 101–110. Gross, J., & Leslie, L. (2008). Twenty-three steps to learning Web 2.0 technologies in an academic library. The Electronic Library. Read More