Holdings of Health and Medical Books in Public Libraries

An Analysis of Collection and Circulation in Four Prefectures

Abstract

　Public libraries are increasingly offering health and medical information services as part of their problem-solving support. This study investigated the collections and usage statuses of libraries in four prefectures to examine how effectively they provide citizens with access to books on health and medical information. Specifically, we conducted a random sample of 10,000 books from the national bibliography and explored the relationship between book collection, usage, and the selection tools employed by libraries in Chiba, Kanagawa, Wakayama, and Kochi Prefectures. The findings revealed that the number of books available for lending increased substantially when libraries of different types were incorporated into an interlibrary loan network. In addition, prefectural libraries and libraries of other types demonstrated a tendency to maintain collections of high-quality books. Our results also indicate that materials with more recent publication dates were borrowed more frequently and high-quality books were circulated relatively often. It was found that prefectural libraries play a pivotal role in providing citizens with access to books, such as providing reliable books within the prefecture and building a system for interlibrary loans.