میزان رضایت‌مندی استفاده‌کنندگان کتابخانه‌های عمومی استان خراسان شمالی از فضا و معماری کتابخانه‌ها

Purpose: It is aimed in this study to determine the satisfaction level of public libraries’ users in North Khorasan Province regarding the architecture of libraries, as well as to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in the libraries’ architecture. Methodology: This research is a descriptive survey in which data collection was achieved by questionnaire. The population under study included all citizens of North Khorasan Province who use public libraries and also the librarians and managers of these public libraries. Sample size was estimated to be 140 persons and stratified random sampling was used. In addition, data analysis was performed by the statistical software SPSS 16. Findings: According to the results, out of the nine criteria studied, the satisfaction level of users is lower than medium (3) in five criteria. Therefore, it seems that the satisfaction level is relatively low in total, regarding the general criteria for evaluation of libraries’ architecture. According to the responders, the existence of welfare places in the libraries was described relatively important. Mean weights of the questions related to problems and weaknesses in architecture of main environment of libraries (3.17 to 4.03) indicated that according to the responders the internal architecture of the main environment in libraries has in total undesirable and suffers from many problems. Furthermore, a significant and direct relationship was observed between “the total satisfaction level regarding the library environment” and other general criteria for evaluation of library architecture. On the other hand, no significant difference was observed regarding “the total satisfaction level regarding the library environment” among the three groups of responders, i.e. library managers, librarians, and users. Originality/Value: The findings of this research can assist the officials and managers in the related fields in identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the library environment architecture and therefore in decision-making for related policies. Additionally, it can help the programmers, consultants, designers, and architects of libraries in appropriate programming and efficient designing which would be consistent with the needs of users.