A Study of the Impact of Semnan Municipality Rangin Kaman Phone Library on the Development of Children and Young Adult's Reading Culture

The aim of the present research is to study the impact of Semnan Municipality phone library resources on the development of children' and young adult's reading, which is a new approach in the country An experimental method including a pretest group and a post test group was selected as the research method. Two questionnaires were used for data collection. The pretest included seven and the post test three questions. The population included 69 new library members in August 2010. Based on the results by analyzing responses in the pretest, 34 (49.3%) respondents selected the choice “too much” to show their interest. Compared with the respondents in the pretest, 41 (59.4%) of the post test respondents showed more interest, and it indicated an upward trend. In both pretest and posttest groups, regarding daily reading (24 hours), one of the options was reading from 60 to 129 minutes, which was selected by 11 (15.9%) in the pretest in contrast to 21 (30.45%) in the posttest group. It indicated that the phone library has increased the member's reading rate and, thus, the research hypothesis which was based upon the positive role of phone library in increasing children' and young adult's reading, is confirmed. A significant difference was observed between the responses in the pretest and the posttest. Originality/Value: This is the first research with regard to phone library in Iran and its results can help officials of the public libraries foundation, municipality cultural and art organizations and institutes for the intellectual development of children and young adults to use the experience. This experience can be used and disseminated throughout the country for promoting reading culture among children and young adults.