Is the library a third place for young people?

Abstract

Despite some previous contributions from the library and information science community to the ongoing scholarly discussions of space and place, the research on ‘library as place’ in the context of young people has received scant attention. To address this gap, a case study of the Jurong Regional Library as place for young people in Singapore was carried out. Oldenburg’s third place concept was deployed as a framework to explore the meaning and role of the Jurong Regional Library for young people in Singapore. Although we found that the library does not function as a third place as advocated by Oldenburg in the strictest sense, it does show that the library is a relevant and engaging place for young people in Singapore. For young people in Singapore, the library is also a social place, study place, as well as information and/or entertainment place. As a social place, young people socialize with others from diverse backgrounds via the library. The ambience of the library creates conducive environment for young people to stay and study diligently. Imbued with collective knowledge, the library is also a place where young people can satisfy their needs for information and/or entertainment.

Keywords

Library as place library users public libraries space and place third place young people and libraries

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