Korean Immigrant Parents’ Perceptions of Library Service in Support of Their Own and Their Children’s Learning
Location
Walsh B
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Even though local libraries are one of the most easily available and accessible community organizations for immigrant parents to seek assistance, little is known about the ways in which immigrant parents use local libraries to enhance their own learning and their children’s learning. A questionnaire was developed to study the current use of library programs and services by Korean immigrant parents and their children as well as their and their children’s need for library programs and services. One forty-one completed questionnaires were analyzed. The more time parents spent at the libraries, the more they came to believe that the libraries offered programs for immigrant families, �s = .25, p < .01. Almost half of the participants (43%) reported dissatisfaction with library services because of the lack of Korean resources (16%), linguistic barriers (16%), and the lack of organized cultural events (11%). Results on the frequency of time spent at libraries, reasons to use library resources, and their awareness of programs for immigrants offered by libraries will be shared. The importance of this study is that the parents stressed contextual barriers such as the lack of resources in immigrants’ native languages as a strong barrier for immigrants to not use library services.
Keywords
Parental involvement, library services, community involvement, minority parents, Korean immigrant parents
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Kim, Yanghee; Kim, Hyun Chu; An, Sohyun; and Kim, Jihye, "Korean Immigrant Parents’ Perceptions of Library Service in Support of Their Own and Their Children’s Learning" (2017). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 5.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2017/2017/5
Korean Immigrant Parents’ Perceptions of Library Service in Support of Their Own and Their Children’s Learning
Walsh B
Even though local libraries are one of the most easily available and accessible community organizations for immigrant parents to seek assistance, little is known about the ways in which immigrant parents use local libraries to enhance their own learning and their children’s learning. A questionnaire was developed to study the current use of library programs and services by Korean immigrant parents and their children as well as their and their children’s need for library programs and services. One forty-one completed questionnaires were analyzed. The more time parents spent at the libraries, the more they came to believe that the libraries offered programs for immigrant families, �s = .25, p < .01. Almost half of the participants (43%) reported dissatisfaction with library services because of the lack of Korean resources (16%), linguistic barriers (16%), and the lack of organized cultural events (11%). Results on the frequency of time spent at libraries, reasons to use library resources, and their awareness of programs for immigrants offered by libraries will be shared. The importance of this study is that the parents stressed contextual barriers such as the lack of resources in immigrants’ native languages as a strong barrier for immigrants to not use library services.
