Abstract
In the Czech Republic, the percentage of immigrants in the population is just about 4 per cent (Obyvatelstvo, 2015). Until now, there was no reason for revolutionary development of intercultural library services.
At this time, it is clear that migration is a big topic in Europe and that population structure would keep changing. Libraries can play an important role in this process - experiences from other countries and international recommendations show their potential.
The poster will present the results of a small scale study conducted by a group of five students. The main goal was to gather data about the relationship between immigrants and libraries in the Czech context.
The study should also explore a link between the use of libraries in the country of origin and in the Czech Republic and to find out why immigrants do not use library services more often. Seven language mutations of the online questionnaire for immigrants living in the Czech Republic were used.
Finally, we received 122 responses from representatives of 24 different countries. The qualitative part consists of half-structured interviews with eight immigrants.
In addition photo interviews were conducted with six respondents directly in their favourite libraries. The results show that the use of libraries by immigrants is lower in the Czech Republic compared with the country of origin.
Immigrants who use library services are generally satisfied with them. The reasons why immigrants do not use library services in the Czech Republic are very similar to the responses given by the majority population (Trávníček, 2011).
For example obtaining literature from other sources or a lack of time. Language barrier was a significant issue for avoiding the use of libraries in the Czech Republic.
On the other hand, most of the respondents marked that they can communicate in Czech. The importance of feeling welcome was confirmed as well as the crucial role of the friendly attitude of library employees.