Dissertation Information for Stephen T. Kochoff NAME: - Stephen T. Kochoff
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Columbia University (USA) (1992)
ADVISORS: - Phyllis Dain - Redmond Kathleen Molz
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Ambiguous
Title: Public library friends groups: Aims, operations, effectiveness
Abstract: This study was designed to analyze public library friends groups in three distinctive settings: a large urban library (the Free Library of Philadelphia), a small city library (the Meriden Public Library), and a rapidly growing suburban library system (the Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries).
The case study method was used to report the findings. Data about the libraries and their friends were gathered through lengthy interviews with all significant participants, and examination of documents such as annual reports. Analysis of the data addressed research questions.
The research questions focused on the aims, operations, and effectiveness of friends groups and examined friends in the political process; the types of support the friends provide; the communication process among the friends and their role in publicizing the library; the degree to which members of friends groups represent the socio-economic characteristics of their communities; and the linkages between friends and other voluntary groups.
The research indicated that friends groups play a variety of roles dictated by local circumstances. They maintain an independence from the library, yet tailor their actions to the library's needs. In two of the three cases, the friends fulfilled a political role and improved the libraries' municipal funding. In the third location, the friends has had continuous difficulty mounting its private-sector fund-raising program. This study indicated that the size of a community's population may influence the friends success. It appears that friends groups make a larger, more immediate, more sustained impact in smaller communities.
Future research might consider whether friends groups' political activities, such as lobbying, can lead to significant increases in library budgets; whether there is some danger that the long-term effects of privatization, through increased reliance on private sector monies obtained from fund raising will lead to diminution of government support; whether friends in large cities and counties are more powerful at the grass roots or neighborhood level than centralized groups whose purview covers many communities; and whether the leadership and support of the library director are essential to the effectiveness of the friends.
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MPACT Scores for Stephen T. Kochoff A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:02:07
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