To determine the public librarian's role in teaching information literacy, this study was designed to evaluate library skills of the adult population in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Two separate surveys consisting of matrix and open-ended questions were sent to reference librarians employed in public libraries within the county and to 380 adult residents. Ten out of 18 librarians participated. One hundred and eighty-five resident surveys were returned. Sixty-seven participants were library users.
The research revealed there is a need for library instruction but patrons may not be interested in attending formal instruction at their public libraries. Twenty-one percent of adults surveyed stated they would attend classes, 48% stated they would not attend, and 31% were not sure. The librarians believed that instruction on utilizing all the resources found within the library would benefit their patrons; however, librarians responded that most patrons would not attend classes. Fifty percent of the librarians surveyed believed that patrons would not participate in formal instruction, 40% were undecided, and 10% did not respond to the question.
","abstract_html":"<p>To determine the public librarian's role in teaching information literacy, this study was designed to evaluate library skills of the adult population in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Two separate surveys consisting of matrix and open-ended questions were sent to reference librarians employed in public libraries within the county and to 380 adult residents. Ten out of 18 librarians participated. One hundred and eighty-five resident surveys were returned. Sixty-seven participants were library users.</p> <p>The research revealed there is a need for library instruction but patrons may not be interested in attending formal instruction at their public libraries. Twenty-one percent of adults surveyed stated they would attend classes, 48% stated they would not attend, and 31% were not sure. The librarians believed that instruction on utilizing all the resources found within the library would benefit their patrons; however, librarians responded that most patrons would not attend classes. Fifty percent of the librarians surveyed believed that patrons would not participate in formal instruction, 40% were undecided, and 10% did not respond to the question.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Battelini, Elizabeth 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":["Willett, Holly"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2002,"date_issued":"2002-07-08T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2002-07-08T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:25Z","subjects":["Information literacy; Public librarians","Library and Information Science"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1397","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Willett, Holly"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Battelini, Elizabeth A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"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":["Information literacy; Public librarians","Library and Information Science"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1397"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["To determine the public librarian's role in teaching information literacy, this study was designed to evaluate library skills of the adult population in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Two separate surveys consisting of matrix and open-ended questions were sent to reference librarians employed in public libraries within the county and to 380 adult residents. Ten out of 18 librarians participated. One hundred and eighty-five resident surveys were returned. Sixty-seven participants were library users.
The research revealed there is a need for library instruction but patrons may not be interested in attending formal instruction at their public libraries. Twenty-one percent of adults surveyed stated they would attend classes, 48% stated they would not attend, and 31% were not sure. The librarians believed that instruction on utilizing all the resources found within the library would benefit their patrons; however, librarians responded that most patrons would not attend classes. Fifty percent of the librarians surveyed believed that patrons would not participate in formal instruction, 40% were undecided, and 10% did not respond to the question.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The public librarian's role in teaching information literacy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Willett, Holly"],"dc:creator":["Battelini, Elizabeth A."],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["To determine the public librarian's role in teaching information literacy, this study was designed to evaluate library skills of the adult population in Cumberland County, New Jersey. Two separate surveys consisting of matrix and open-ended questions were sent to reference librarians employed in public libraries within the county and to 380 adult residents. Ten out of 18 librarians participated. One hundred and eighty-five resident surveys were returned. Sixty-seven participants were library users.
The research revealed there is a need for library instruction but patrons may not be interested in attending formal instruction at their public libraries. Twenty-one percent of adults surveyed stated they would attend classes, 48% stated they would not attend, and 31% were not sure. The librarians believed that instruction on utilizing all the resources found within the library would benefit their patrons; however, librarians responded that most patrons would not attend classes. Fifty percent of the librarians surveyed believed that patrons would not participate in formal instruction, 40% were undecided, and 10% did not respond to the question.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1397"],"dc:subject":["Information literacy; Public librarians","Library and Information Science"],"dc:title":["The public librarian's role in teaching information literacy"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Special Educational Services/Instruction"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School and Public Librarianship"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:25Z"}