Influence of the Public Library on Unemployed Citizens’ Quality of Life

Abstract

Najizraženije potrebe ispitanih građana su potrebe za učenjem engleskoga i njemačkoga jezika; računalnim i tehničkim vještinama, potreba za usavršavanjem komunikacijskih vještina; usavršavanjem dodatnih socijalnih vještina kroz timski rad, upoznavanjem pravila poslovnog bontona, stjecanjem organizacijskih vještina, promocijskih vještina, učenjem neverbalne komunikacije ili govora tijela. Rezultat istraživanja pokazao je da, unatoč tomu što je dio ispitanika (41,6 %) član narodne knjižnice, i dalje ima različite potrebe u sastavu cjeloživotnog obrazovanja, a njihova im narodna knjižnica ne pruža mogućnost ispunjavanja. Pokazao je i to da nisu sve narodne knjižnice u Osječko-baranjskoj županiji otvorene za sve korisnike. Nezaposleni, društveno isključeni građani mišljenja su da narodna knjižnica može pomoći u razvoju zajednice, ali ne i nezaposlenima.

The aim of this paper is to present the results of the research on the needs of unemployed citizens in the Osijek-Baranja County with the purpose of improving the knowledge of advancing the services, programs, and activities of public libraries, as well as the quality of life of unemployed citizens. Research was conducted using the random sampling method (N=250). The article presents a picture of the situation before the global COVID-19 health pandemic, the crisis that affected the whole world. The collected data was statistically analyzed in SPSS, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, using correlation and descriptive analysis on two groups and was thereafter expressed in percentages. The most important results of the research showed that the selected citizens have a need for lifelong learning, but that at the same time the largest percentage of them do not have the need to fulfill the named needs in a library space.

Most pronounced needs of tested citizens are the needs to learn English and German; computer and technical skills, the need to perfect communication skills; perfecting additional social skills through teamwork, familiarizing oneself with workspace etiquette, gaining organizational skills, promotional skills, learning nonverbal communication or body language. The results show that public libraries do not allow a portion of the subjects (41.6%) to fulfill their needs, despite them having a membership to the public library and having different needs for lifelong learning. Likewise, results show that not all public libraries within the Osijek-Baranja County are open to all users. Socially excluded unemployed citizens believe that the public library can help develop communities and unemployed citizens alike.