Date of Award
6-2023
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Library and Information Science BS
Department
Library and Information Science
First Advisor
Stacy Creel, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Johnnie Pace, M.B.A.
Advisor Department
Library and Information Science
Abstract
The military community is an underserved population in many public libraries. Historically, military bases have had a dedicated military library on base, but in some cases budget cuts have led to their closure. The closure of military libraries provides an opportunity for public libraries to fill the gap and provide support to the military community. Despite not being equipped to handle many of the unique challenges that Service members and their families encounter, public libraries have been making great strides towards providing support to the military community as a whole. Current research focuses on how military lifestyle impacts psychosocial development, reading as a tool for improving mental health, and gaining a deeper understanding of trauma recovery for military personnel. Public libraries have branched out into the role of being a support center for the military community. As a lifeline for the betterment of service members and their families, public libraries offer programming that helps Veterans process PTSD, services that bring deployed families closer together, and catalog materials that highlight military life. This study examines the library collections of four libraries in Mississippi using checklists methodology to analyze the comparative coverage of military-affiliated titles in each collection. The results of the catalog analysis showed that public libraries within close distance to military communities are lacking adequate resources to meet their needs. The findings of this small-scale study indicate that further research is needed, especially a larger scale national survey of public libraries on their attitudes towards and acquisition of military-affiliated titles.
Copyright
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Recommended Citation
Brown, Rachel, "An Analysis of Public Library Services to the Military Community" (2023). Honors Theses. 925.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/925