The purpose of this study was to investigate how public librarians in New Jersey responded to the external and internal barriers to young adult patronage as identified by the 1995 National Center for Educational Statistics study and the 1999 Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development initiative. The researcher conducted a purposive online survey of New Jersey public librarians who were members of the New Jersey Young Adult and Children's (NJYAC) Iistserv and served young adults. Responses to the online survey totaled 77 or 16%. Percentages were used to analyze the data and Microsoft Excel was used to generate charts and tables. The findings of the survey indicated that librarians who participated in the study no longer felt that lack of service and lack of resources were still barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries; however, many agreed that limited access to technology and lack of space were both still significant barriers. Furthermore, study participants did not indicate what steps they had actually taken to overcome the barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries, only steps that they would like to take or were planning to take.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate how public librarians in New Jersey responded to the external and internal barriers to young adult patronage as identified by the 1995 National Center for Educational Statistics study and the 1999 Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development initiative. The researcher conducted a purposive online survey of New Jersey public librarians who were members of the New Jersey Young Adult and Children's (NJYAC) Iistserv and served young adults. Responses to the online survey totaled 77 or 16%. Percentages were used to analyze the data and Microsoft Excel was used to generate charts and tables. The findings of the survey indicated that librarians who participated in the study no longer felt that lack of service and lack of resources were still barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries; however, many agreed that limited access to technology and lack of space were both still significant barriers. Furthermore, study participants did not indicate what steps they had actually taken to overcome the barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries, only steps that they would like to take or were planning to take.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Swierk, Deborah A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School and Public Librarianship","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Special Educational Services/Instruction","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Shontz, Marilyn"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-05-09T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-05-09T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:58Z","subjects":["Libraries and students; Public libraries--New Jersey; Young adults' libraries--New Jersey--Administration","Library and Information Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1085","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Shontz, Marilyn"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Swierk, Deborah A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-04-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Libraries and students; Public libraries--New Jersey; Young adults' libraries--New Jersey--Administration","Library and Information Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1085"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of this study was to investigate how public librarians in New Jersey responded to the external and internal barriers to young adult patronage as identified by the 1995 National Center for Educational Statistics study and the 1999 Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development initiative. The researcher conducted a purposive online survey of New Jersey public librarians who were members of the New Jersey Young Adult and Children's (NJYAC) Iistserv and served young adults. Responses to the online survey totaled 77 or 16%. Percentages were used to analyze the data and Microsoft Excel was used to generate charts and tables. The findings of the survey indicated that librarians who participated in the study no longer felt that lack of service and lack of resources were still barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries; however, many agreed that limited access to technology and lack of space were both still significant barriers. Furthermore, study participants did not indicate what steps they had actually taken to overcome the barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries, only steps that they would like to take or were planning to take.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries: a survey of New Jersey librarians"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Shontz, Marilyn"],"dc:creator":["Swierk, Deborah A."],"dc:date.available":["2016-04-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of this study was to investigate how public librarians in New Jersey responded to the external and internal barriers to young adult patronage as identified by the 1995 National Center for Educational Statistics study and the 1999 Public Libraries as Partners in Youth Development initiative. The researcher conducted a purposive online survey of New Jersey public librarians who were members of the New Jersey Young Adult and Children's (NJYAC) Iistserv and served young adults. Responses to the online survey totaled 77 or 16%. Percentages were used to analyze the data and Microsoft Excel was used to generate charts and tables. The findings of the survey indicated that librarians who participated in the study no longer felt that lack of service and lack of resources were still barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries; however, many agreed that limited access to technology and lack of space were both still significant barriers. Furthermore, study participants did not indicate what steps they had actually taken to overcome the barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries, only steps that they would like to take or were planning to take.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1085"],"dc:subject":["Libraries and students; Public libraries--New Jersey; Young adults' libraries--New Jersey--Administration","Library and Information Science"],"dc:title":["Barriers to young adult patronage of public libraries: a survey of New Jersey librarians"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:58Z"}