Micro-environments in Libraries for Young Children

Authors

  • Stamoulia Polyzou University of Thessaly, Lamia, Greece
  • Nikos Zygouris University of Thessaly, Lamia, Greece
  • Kafenia Botsoglou University of Thessaly, Lamia, Greece
  • George I. Stamoulis University of Thessaly, Lamia, Greece
  • Denis Vavougios University of Thessaly, Lamia, Greece

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24203/ajeel.v9i5.6764

Keywords:

Children’s Library space micro-environment, Children’s Library furniture, Children’s Library space variety

Abstract

Most public libraries, small, medium, or large, offer a variety of services, facilities and amenities to their audience, depending on the assigned functions. The ideal size of space for children in public libraries cannot be calculated according to the population that it will serve, as is often the case with school libraries, but based on the activities to be developed and the characteristics of particular characteristics of childhood. Therefore, emphasis must be given primarily on the qualitative and secondarily on the quantitative characteristics of the children’s library physical environment. This paper presents answers on some basic questions. Do Public Libraries provide special space arrangements for children and their families in their establishments? Are Children Libraries “reading-rooms” suitably designed and furnished as to provide the necessary areas for reading, relaxing, playing or creating? Observations in several library facilities revealed some interesting findings concerning Children’s Library environments.

References

Dewe, M., Planning Public library buildings: Concepts and issues for the librarian, Burlington, USA, 2006.

Steele, F. I., Physical Settings and Organization Development. Reading, Massachusetts, USA, 1973.

Rankin, C., IFLA Guidelines for library services for children aged 0-18, IFLA, Netherlands, 2018.

Germanos, D., Walls of Knowledge, Athens, Greece, 2002 (In Greek).

Anastasakis, M., Redesigning the Library at School: A Proposal for Secondary Education. Greece, 2003.

Arvaniti, I., The school library as a factor of the educational environment dynamics: space and educational process. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 2012 (In Greek).

Kostelnik, M. J., Whiren, A. P., Soderman, A. K., Stein, L. C. & Gregory, K., Guiding children’s social development: Theory to practice. Australia, 2002.

Kemple, K. M., Arranging the environment to support peer interaction. In Let’s be friends: Peer competence and social inclusion in early childhood programs (pp. 30-54). New York, USA, 2004.

Moore, G.T., The physical environment and cognitive development in child-care centers. In C.S. Weinstein & T. G. David. (Eds.), Spaces for children: The built environment and child development (pp. 41-67). New York, USA, 1987.

Gibson, J.J., The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston, USA, 1979.

Curtis, D., Carter, M., Designs for Living and Learning: Transforming Early Childhood Environments. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press, 2003.

Berris, R. Miller, Ε., “How design of the physical environment impacts early learning: educators’ and parents’ perspectives”, Australasian Journal of Early Childhood vol.36, no 4, pp. 102-110, 2011.

Olds, A. R., “Psychological and physiological harmony in childcare center design”, Children's Environments Quarterly, vol. 6, no 4, pp. 8-16, 1989.

Olds, A. R., Child Care Design Guide. New York, USA, 2001.

Feinberg, S., Kuchner, J., Feldman, S., Learning environments for young children: Rethinking Library Spaces and Services. Chicago, IL, USA,1998.

Blaska, J. K., Hasslen, R., “Environmental impact: What we can learn from Swedish early childhood settings”, Day Care and Early Education vol. 21, no 3, pp. 29-33, 1994.

Maslow, A. H., Motivation and personality. New York, USA, 1954.

Chandler, W. L., “A Teacher space or a learner place?: Reconsidering the classroom environment”, International Journal of Learning vol.16, no 9, 261-267, 2009.

Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. F. The development of place identity in the child. In: C. S. Weinstein & T. G. David (Eds.), Spaces for Children. The Built Environment and Child Development (pp. 21-40). New York, London, 1987.

Moore, G.T., “Effects of the spatial definition of behavior settings on children's behavior: A quasi-experimental field study”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 6, no 3, pp. 205-23, 1986.

Rankin, C. (Ed.) IFLA Guidelines for Library Services to Children aged 0-18. Den Haag, Netherlands, 2018

Babbie, E. R., The basics of social research. Belmont, CA, USA, 2008.

Cohen, L. Manion, L., Morrison, K., Research methods in education. London; New York, USA, 2000.

Harms, T., Clifford, R. M., Cryer, D., Early childhood environment rating scale. New York, USA, 1998.

Latimer, Κ., Sommer, D. (Eds.) Post-occupancy evaluation of library buildings. Berlin/Munich, Germany, 2015.

New South Wales State Library People places Post-Occupancy Evaluation, Australia, 2012.

https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/poe_survey_template.pdf

Robson, C., Real world research: a resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers. Oxford, UK, 2002.

Ministry of National Education and Religion, Greek Guidelines for Greek Public Library Buildings. Athens, Greece, 2004 (In Greek).

Oldenburg, R., Τhe Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community. New York, USA, 1999.

Aksakal, N., Theoretical view to the approach of the edutainment. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 186, pp. 1232–1239, 2015.

Downloads

Published

2021-11-04

How to Cite

Polyzou, S., Zygouris, N. . ., Botsoglou, K. ., Stamoulis, G. I. ., & Vavougios, D. . (2021). Micro-environments in Libraries for Young Children . Asian Journal of Education and E-Learning, 9(5). https://doi.org/10.24203/ajeel.v9i5.6764

Most read articles by the same author(s)