Library Types & Public Libraries

• Since the beginning of the 20th century, libraries have been refining their functions based on the services they provide to readers and researchers.
• Governments and scientific bodies have been developing libraries accordingly, leading to diversified names and functions.

Types of Libraries

• Libraries are generally divided into three types:

Public Libraries

• Serve a broad, non-specific readership
• Primarily cater to the average reader
• May include the national library.

Private Libraries

• Cater to a specific group of beneficiaries or a particular organization.

Specialized Libraries

• Serve a specific field of knowledge.
• This classification is somewhat arbitrary but is intended to categorize library types.

Public Libraries: Definition

• Public Libraries:
• Established based on a specific law or a previously issued law.
• Open for free to all social classes and age groups.
• Focus on the use of library materials and the provision of organized services.
• Mainly funded by public funds.

Functions of Public Libraries

• Provide culture and education to all groups, whether children, adults, learners, or those new to education
• Contribute to literacy campaigns.
• Offer specific information and answer questions from readers and researchers on request.
• Encourage the beneficial use of leisure time through reading.
• Provide readers and researchers with knowledge and technical skills.
• Develop an appreciation for the arts, such as music and literature.
• Help in disseminating ideas contained in scientific materials, which promotes the revival of ancient heritage or traditions.

Branch Libraries

• Branch Libraries
• Are typically part of a main public library
• Established to serve a specific area distant from the main library, thus bringing library services closer and making them more accessible.
• May be established to serve a specific environment (e.g., industrial or agricultural) with unique conditions and needs.
• Require necessary components to ensure their success, including collections that meet the needs of their readers.
• Should be staffed with qualified personnel who can provide excellent specialized service.
• The reputation of a branch library reflects on the main library.

Mobile Libraries

• Mobile libraries consist of a collection of books transported in a specially equipped vehicle.
• Vehicles contain shelves that can accommodate collections of up to two thousand books.
• These libraries operate in rural areas lacking library services or where library services are inadequate.
• Local libraries may be unable to meet specific needs, such as those of an agricultural or industrial environment.
• Mobile library services facilitate access to required publications.
• Operations are scheduled periodically.
• Mobile libraries may extend their services to homes in remote or elevated areas.

Public Libraries for Children

• Public Libraries for Children:
• Offer services such as designated spaces or specific collections in addition to general public library services for children.
• The beneficiaries are exclusively children, without any other categories.
• General public libraries for children focus on directing children to read for pleasure and self-discovery, in contrast to school libraries.

National Library

• Serves as the library responsible for collecting and preserving the written intellectual output of a country for the benefit of future generations
• Carries out responsibilities include collecting all publications, manuscripts, and related materials about the state, whether published domestically or abroad.
• Functions as the legal deposit center, mandated by law to require authors, printers, and publishers to deposit a specific number of copies in the national library for each published work.
• Acquires and preserves materials related to human civilization, becoming the main source for researchers and scientists.
• Compiles the national bibliography.
• May act as a central hub for interlibrary lending, both domestically and internationally.
• Serves as a center for coordinating the exchange of publications, both domestically and internationally.
• Offers specialized services to specific groups such as the blind or sailors directly or indirectly.
• Provides consultations and technical services to libraries that request them in areas of organization, building design, and related matters.
• May organize the supply of foreign publications to local libraries in a cooperative manner to save costs and facilitate access to publications.
• Provides specialized library services to legislative and executive bodies, such as the People's Assembly and the Prime Minister's office.

Specialized Library

• It mainly serves the faculty, assists educational programs in teaching and research, provides research tools in a wide range of fields, and allows non-students to use library services.

School Libraries

• School Libraries: Provide:
• Active participation in the curriculum.
• Completes the school curriculum through sharpened thinking and expanded imagination.
• Encourages the use of printed material as a source of information.
• Facilitates reading for recreational purposes.
• Trains children in the proper use of the library.
• Teaches good social habits, such as self-control, self-reliance, initiative, and respect for the rights and property of others.
• Helps faculty members by providing them with the latest developments in the field of education and learning.
• School libraries are tailored to the educational level of the school.
• Three types of libraries as a result: elementary school libraries, middle school libraries and secondary school libraries.

Elementary School Libraries

• Elementary School Libraries:
• Serve young beginners, with services based on creating a suitable and comfortable space for young children to sit and read in the library.
• Acquires books with distinctive print styles and attractive illustrations suitable for young children's cognitive abilities to facilitate reading, comprehension, and library introduction.
• Permits external borrowing.
• Acquires simplified references.
• Employs a librarian to assist and guide young learners.

Secondary School Libraries

• Secondary School Libraries: A recent development due to the widening scope of reading and information intake in the transition from elementary to preparatory education.
• Offer diverse sets of references to expand the student's awareness of the world.

Preparatory School Libraries

• Preparatory School Libraries: Serve:
• School curricula
• Offer different scientific materials to diversify entertainment and free reading.
• Acquires good sets of reference books in accordance with the different curriculums and enhances reading skills.
• Provides groups of materials to help teachers in teaching, helping students utilize the library.

Private Libraries

• Private Libraries
• Serve a specific organization (ministry, agency, company, providing services to individuals or independent organizations. These libraries serve employees within the organization with all ranks. In the ministry, the beneficiaries are the employees; high-level administration, executive staff, workers.

Special Libraries

• Special Libraries:
• Serve a specific department and provide books related to the cultural aspect of the institution with the necessary knowledge about the institution.
• Help support and promote the educational programs within through research, provides search tools in a wide range of fields, and allows non-students to use library services.
• Cooperate with the university's central library in training new library staff

College Library

• College Libraries:
• Enhance efficiency, effectiveness and economy
• The elements for success of a college library include providing appropriate scientific sources for research and expansion
• Having an efficient staff to provide library services
• Organization in its functions, enhance the place's reputation, have a relationship between the library and the educational and administrative policies, and have consistency between the books in the library and its surrounding environment.

Institutes Library

• Institutes Library: No major differences exist as each serves a specific purpose of the institute with similarities to college libraries. Higher institute libraries need to realize higher studies that specialize in fields for university graduates.

University Libraries

• University Libraries: The responsibilities involve all university colleges and institutes
• Supports the curriculum
• Supports staff to conduct research
• Responsible to those in higher education
• It consists of recent and futuristic studies.

Specialized Libraries

• Specialized Libraries serve a specific scientific body specialized in a field of human knowledge
• Provides all recent scientific and technical data to the institute to collect the scientific materials needed.
• The librarians may be tasked with some of the sorting and translation.

Type of Specialized Libraries

• Specialized Libraries types:
• Technical library specializing in a specific organization
• Area that contains many commercial activities
• Scientific organization

Documentation Centers

• Documenation Centers offer expertise in various areas in the scientific field. Such centers collect, classify, analyze, and describe the information to researchers and scholars.
• Provide operations such as translation, summarization, imaging, publishing, and bibliography.
• Requires those specialized in the field to assist in scientific analysis to ensure accuracy of the information.