Information Literacy and the Public Library: Danish Librarians' Views on Information Literacy

This paper reports on the results of an empirical study of Danish public librarians' conceptions of information literacy and user education in order to support and optimize lifelong learning of library users. The study builds on data from interviews of purposely selected public librarians and a large-scale e-mail survey (questionnaire). The results show that the public librarians consider the public library an important place for learning, but also that they do not share a common understanding of the concepts of information literacy and lifelong learning. The study further reveals a diversity of user education in public libraries with a strong focus on the individuality of the user and that hands-on courses are preferred as the pedagogical form.