Priorities and objectives of librarians in France and in Quebec: an essay on comparative librarianship

A questionnaire has been sent to French librarians and librarians in Quebec in order to identify their priorities in the running of their libraries. One hundred and sixty-four individuals responded. Analysis of the results reveals some quite important differences among respondents as to the level of human resources, opening hours, and the percentage represented by paid-up readers. The study also shows significant agreement between French librarians and those in Quebec on about ten points, but quite significant disagreement on about ten others. The authors mention that differences of perception about the mission of the public library could explain the results. They end by affirming that there should be more cooperation between French librarians and those in Quebec.
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