The term, “Dai Ni-sen Toshokan, the second-line Library,” has been appeared in many library articles to describe the function of prefectural libraries. However, the term bears different meanings in the usages of variolls writers under different situations. Defining the term should be one of the great insistent need of the public librarianship in Japan.
In order to find the variety of usages, the author examines articles on prefectural libraries which were published in the period from 1950 to 1965, seeking an origin of each usage and its exact meaning of the original author.
The term was first used by Takashi Ariyama in 1950, then the Secretary-General of the Japan Library Association, to denote the prefectural library which offered two phases of library services, they are; the direct service to the local users, and indirect service through municipal libraries assuming the prefectural library as a center for library cooperation in the area.
After Ariyama, however, only the latter phase was emphasized by many authors. In 1960's, “the library for libraries” function of American state libraries was introduced, and it soon began to be interpreted that it conveyed the same function with the second-line library concept. In 1963, Chusho Toshi ni okeru Toshokan no Un'ei was published by the JLA, and the book emphasized the “Backstop Function” of prefectural libraries to support municipal libraries. Later, this function was called “Indirect Library Service,” and was also regarded to have the same function with the second-line library concept.
In order to develop public library services in this country, appropriate definition of the second-line library concept should be formulated paying proper consideration to the direct library services to users.

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Public library service points should be organized as a network to provide an impartial and efficient service to all the members of the community. However, in the municipal library systems having multiple service points most users habitually or willingly choose only one point.
This research aims at a better understanding of how and why users choose their favoured service point. A questionnnaire survey was circulated among registered residents of the Kashiwa Municipal Library System in February 1985. This paper is a second report of the result of the survey. At first, we classified the users into five groups by a combination of the library which he usually uses and the library which is nearest to own home. We analysed the demographic characteristics of the users of each group, the relationship between the distribution of the user's homes and that of libraries, how many libraries they know the name and place of accurately. the evaluations of the libraries which they use and other factors.

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Information needs and use have always been the main theme of library and information science. The first chapter reports on an intensive survey of medical library users in Oxford training hospitals and the University science department based on recent user studies. In this survey, six survey techniques are used. Three distinct user types are identified and a rich picture based on the survey results are described.
The second chapter explains the soft system methodology developed by checkland and introduces the systems study which links the survey to library management decision-making.
Finally, the significance of linking the results of the survey to the practical problems of library management is discussed. The conclusions for library management and implications for library and information research are presented.

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