Page 258 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

Extended English abstracts of articles published in the Chinese Edition of Journal of Library Science in China 2015 Vol.41 257

different research issues so as to provide some reference for the future study and practice in China.

Towards a theory of library reading promotion
1 ∗
Rong XIE , Wei LIU & Shanshan ZHAO

As one of the basic services provided by libraries, reading promotion has been receiving attention
and recognition from librarians and researchers in Library Science in the recent years. Yet it entails
issues that need to be addressed and clarified. The paper aims to offer a theoretical interpretation of
Library Reading Promotion (LRP) and define some of its basic concepts.
In today’s internet age, a nationwide campaign has been launched to encourage reading. Against
this backdrop, LRP should go beyond the traditional“leisure reading”to cover multidisciplinary
and cross-domain reading by people from all walks of life through omni-media so as to foster more
committed library users and make better use of library resources.
The paper reviews the existing domestic and overseas studies on reading promotion, attempts
to make logical analysis of some basic concepts. LRP is defined after related concepts have
been sorted out. The two fundamental purposes of LRP, i.e. recommending library resources and
developing readers, lead to the categorization of LRP as resources-based (or resources-centered)
promotion and reader-based (or reader-centered) promotion. The paper argues that LRP should
be done in a systematic, rational, measurable and patterned way instead of merely focusing on
spontaneous, sporadic or campaign-styled activities, and that LRP should aim at fostering readers’
information literacy in a comprehensive way instead of merely sparking their interest in reading
and developing reading habits. Compared with reading promotion activities conducted by other
institutions, LRP is more comprehensive, systematic and professional. The existing studies show
that LRP has been clearly laid out revolving around its professional concepts and values and
fruitful results have been produced.
Though a preliminary framework is in place, establishing a LRP theory requires drawing on
ideas from other relevant disciplines, e.g. Reading Studies, Communication Studies, Sociology
and Pedagogy. Taking stock of the paradigms and constructs of the existing studies on LRP, the
paper proposes the content needed to form a theoretical framework for LRP and discusses its
relationships with the other disciplines. An established theory should be able to explain, simulate,
guide and predict real-life phenomena and help solve real-life problems. When it comes to LRP,
practice goes far ahead of theory. The puzzles and problems encountered in practice cannot be
fully addressed without the establishment of a well-grounded LRP theory.
Serving as a preliminary attempt towards building a systematic LRP theory, the paper clarifies
some basic concepts, reviews the existing studies and discusses future directions in terms of

* Correspondence should be addressed to Rong XIE, Email: xr@suibe.edu.cn, ORCID: 0000-0002-2243-2125