Reading interest and reading pattern of rural library users in a low literacy rate area

Abstract

The rural library generates knowledgeable and up-to-date communities through the inculcation of positive lifestyles. The purpose of the study is to investigate reading interest and reading patterns among rural communities in the low literacy rate areas in Malaysia. The quantitative study employs a multi-stage cluster and simple random sampling, whereby 400 respondents from 16 rural libraries at Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, and Kelantan were selected. This investigation shows that rural library users interested in the reading activity. Most of the users are female, read 2 to 5 books in a week, and prefer to read printed materials in Malay. There is no significant difference in reading interest and gender. Findings suggested that more library needs to be established in rural areas to foster reading culture. Librarians and community leaders play a role in promoting library facilities for the community. More research needs to be conducted to assess the impact of the rural library on the community, especially in the low literacy rate areas.

Management of Developing Community Reading Interest in Utilizing Digital Literacy in Science and Lorong Library

“…Libraries and digital literacy are important tools in developing and improving welfare and creating dynamics in society (Lwehabura, 2018) libraries and digital literacy as a means of reading that can be graded in society, families and schools that can produce a knowledgeable society (Mohamed et al, 2020;Ilham et al, 2022). The existence of the Lorong library in the city of Makassar which is the initiation of a literacy figure that makes it easy for the public to obtain information as well as digital literacy.…”

“…There are differences in reading interest between men and women, including in the use of technology (digital literacy). Women have more time and use more reading strategies, which encourages women to make greater use of libraries and digital literacy (Mohamed et al, 2020). There are gender differences in reading, so there needs to be a study in aligning the two sexes so that they are equal in obtaining information.…”

“…What must be found is the right solution so that the interest and efforts of the community in reading can be increased so that people obtain the knowledge or information needed (Rakyatku News: accessed on Sunday, 6/08/2022; Mikkonen & Vakkari, 2016), Digital literacy and libraries are places that can provide shadow education services to the public (Taulabi et al, 2017;Nedungadi et al, 2018). In addition to digital literacy, libraries become community literacy, can also be used as interdisciplinary spaces that uphold inclusivity and become an ideal place for all people and become the intellectual capital of a society in facing developments in national development, it's just that there are still many obstacles faced by society in general in obtaining literacy from the library (Massis, 2018;Martzoukou, 2020, Rafi et al, 2019;.Public interest in visiting libraries or reading gardens is still relatively low due to; time, there are other more important tasks, and library access is still very limited (Mohamed et al, 2020) What is interesting in this study is reading interest based on gender. Have read studies that examine gender differences in all aspects including reading interest between men and women (Lombardo et al, 2020) (Padulo et al, 2017), Interest in reading is a research object that is of great interest to researchers, both universally and based on gender.…”

Strategi Pengembangan Taman Bacaan Masyarakat Di Beberapa Negara Berkembang

“…Perpustakaan pedesaan menjadi proyek utama pemerintah sejak tahun 2000 (Mohamed et al, 2020). awalnya berjumlah 25 yang didirikan di tujuh negara bagian di antaranya Selangor, Sarawak, Johor, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Pahang, dan Negeri Sembilan dan kini sudah mencapai 1179 (National Malaysia Library dalam Omar et al, 2012).…”

The Impact of Information Literacy Programme to Rural Communities in Lifelong Learning for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Malaysia

“…They provide basic facilities of infrastructure and information to serve locality with reading materials, internet and computers, scanners, photocopy machines and promote reading encouragement programs (Saleng et al, 2021). Mohamed et al (2020) stated that users of rural libraries like reading activities. The impact of reading encouragement programmes done by PNM to the society is 69% of achievement (Dahlan et al, 2021).…”