Purpose: It is aimed in this study to determine the satisfaction level of public
libraries’ users in North Khorasan Province regarding the architecture of libraries, as
well as to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in the libraries’ architecture.
Methodology: This research is a descriptive survey in which data collection
was achieved by questionnaire. The population under study included all citizens of
North Khorasan Province who use public libraries and also the librarians and
managers of these public libraries. Sample size was estimated to be 140 persons and
stratified random sampling was used. In addition, data analysis was performed by
the statistical software SPSS 16.
Findings: According to the results, out of the nine criteria studied, the
satisfaction level of users is lower than medium (3) in five criteria. Therefore, it
seems that the satisfaction level is relatively low in total, regarding the general
criteria for evaluation of libraries’ architecture. According to the responders, the
existence of welfare places in the libraries was described relatively important. Mean
weights of the questions related to problems and weaknesses in architecture of main
environment of libraries (3.17 to 4.03) indicated that according to the responders the
internal architecture of the main environment in libraries has in total undesirable and
suffers from many problems. Furthermore, a significant and direct relationship was
observed between “the total satisfaction level regarding the library environment”
and other general criteria for evaluation of library architecture. On the other hand, no
significant difference was observed regarding “the total satisfaction level regarding
the library environment” among the three groups of responders, i.e. library
managers, librarians, and users.
Originality/Value: The findings of this research can assist the officials and
managers in the related fields in identification of the strengths and weaknesses of the
library environment architecture and therefore in decision-making for related
policies. Additionally, it can help the programmers, consultants, designers, and
architects of libraries in appropriate programming and efficient designing which
would be consistent with the needs of users.