Page 75 - Journal of Library Science in China 2020 Vol.46

074 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.12, 2020

Some reading resources came from public reading venues (39.5%). These rural residents with
reading habits mainly read privately for self-satisfaction. The access and use of public reading
services was not the mainstream. They also chose convenient and fragmented time to read, and
made limited efforts for public reading. The interviews also proved this conclusion. A resident
who liked reading said, “I still like to read my favorite books at home. It’s more convenient in all
aspects, and it’s relatively troublesome to go to the farmer’s reading room.” Other non-reading
residents (42.2%) did not devote time or effort to reading. “I do housework from morning till
night, and I have no time to read,” said a 60-year-old resident. “My husband and I have been
busy running our restaurant from morning to night,” said the 40-year-old resident, who owned
a private restaurant, “when we have time, we just play with our phones. We never think about
reading. We don’t have such a habit.” A 50-year-old resident said, “I am old and lack self-control.
I know reading is important, but when others ask me to play cards or mahjong, I’ll still go to play.”
Insufficient effort is an important factor in rural residents’ failure to participate in public reading.

3.2 Stimulus

John Broadt Watson, the founder of the American behaviorist psychology, pointed out that the
complex behavior of human beings can be decomposed into two parts: stimulation and response.
Stimulation comes from both the internal body and the external environment, and the response
follows the stimulation. Influenced by the theory of stimulus response theory in psychology, early
researchers of communication effect believed that there was a close relationship between the media
message stimulus and the audience response, which was embodied in the process of S→O→R
(S=message, O=audience, R=effect), and developed the proposition of “hypodermic injection
theory”. The theory of stimulus response has been criticized by the latecomers for neglecting
the individual’s initiative, but the academia cannot deny the influence of stimulus on individual
behavior. In public reading behavior, the stimulus comes from the stimulus object and means. In
the rural public reading space, the stimulus objects not only refer to the reading resources and
activities, but also the environment where reading occurs, such as the facilities and conditions of
public reading space. The stimulus measures mostly include ways of publicity of public reading.

3.2.1 The stimulating object of public reading
The comfort and convenience of the space and facilities, the richness, practicality and updating
speed of the resources of books and periodicals, the convenience and accessibility of electronic
resources, and the richness of reading activities are the stimulus factors that motivate residents to
participate in public reading. Since its national official launch in 2007, the construction project
of the farmers’ reading room has covered all administrative villages in just a few years, and has
met the basic service conditions in terms of facilities, equipment and resources. Therefore, the
content resource of reading is the most important factor affecting the decision-making of residents’