Early Literacy and Family Engagement: A Cross-Country Analysis of Caregivers’ Perceptions of the Public Library’s Role in the Digital Age in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam

Access: Institutional Access

Publication year

2022

study description

Mixed-Methods

core topic(s)

Early Literacy

Population Characteristics

International

Exposures, Outcomes, Other

Community , Language and Literacy Development , Libraries and Public Resources , Parent Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs , Parent-Child Relationships/Interactions , Technology and Digital/Screen-Based Media

objectives

This study aims to explore caregivers’ perceptions of the public library's role in supporting early literacy and family engagement in the digital age in Asia.

exposure

Public libraries

outcomes evaluated

Caregiver perceptions and family literacy activities

setting

Participants recruited from public libraries in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam

methods

Structured interviews were conducted with librarians, followed by a survey approach to understand what caregivers of five- to 12-year-old children think about the scope of family engagement practices in public libraries in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In total, 454 valid questionnaires were collected.

sample size

n=9 (interviews); n=454 (questionnaires)

measures

Measure of Library Family Engagement Practices: structured interviews Measure of Caregiver Perceptions: questionnaire guided by themes from librarian interviews, about library leadership, engagement processes, and support services for supporting family engagement. As well as questions about perceptions on the librarians’ knowledge, relationships, and support.

results

Findings show that caregivers value the importance of public libraries’ role in promoting family engagement in the digital age in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

conclusions

In order to reap the rewards of family engagement practices, public libraries are suggested to build relationships with families through proactively understanding families’ interests and needs, involving families in the library decision-making process, and engaging families in both print-based and digital literacy programs.

limitations

Generalization of the findings derived from this study is limited by the usage of convenience sampling and a small number of respondents surveyed.