Students Information Behavior in School Libraries of Special Needs School for the Intellectually Disabled

Support Required for Use of Public Libraries

Abstract

　A survey was conducted on 135 teachers of special needs school for the intellectually disabled (112 responded) to investigate the information behavior of students in the school library and the factors behind them, as well as support and reasonable accommodations that lead to use of public libraries, following the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is described in the curriculum guidelines, as the research framework. A chi-square test was conducted on the frequency of library use and information behavior (activity and participation) of 98 students who frequently used the school library as well as 100 students who rarely used the school library, as selected and responded by their homeroom teachers. A multiple regression analysis was conducted on information behavior and two factors of environment and individual. An M-GTA analysis was conducted on responses of open questions regarding support and reasonable accommodations to facilitate students’ library use and the use of electronic books. The results clarified the importance of (1) accumulated library use experience and classification guidance, (2) support and reasonable accommodations regarding events, book collections, and librarians, and (3) issues with using electronic books. These results suggest the importance of promoting the use of special needs school libraries and cooperation between public libraries and special needs schools.