Library Perceptions in the Written Expressions and Drawings of Middle School Fifth Grade Students

Today, when the concepts of lifelong learning and information literacy come to the fore, getting children adopt the habit of using the library at an early age starting from the preschool period will help them to develop continuously and have a positive perception of the library in their future lives. However, in order to create an environment that can give students a library habit or to create a library program, it is necessary to know their existing knowledge structures and experiences about the library. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to reveal the library perceptions of fifth grade middle school students. In the study, qualitative research approaches were used to reveal students' perceptions, thoughts and experiences about the library. In this context, phenomenology and art-based research designs from qualitative research designs were used in the study. The data were obtained from 72 fifth grade students in three secondary schools, one private and two state, in Erzurum using the purposeful sampling method. Content analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. In the study, it was determined that almost all of the students have information about the library, their attitude towards the library is positive, the first thing that comes to mind about library is the book and the shelf, they go to the library especially to read books and study, and they see the library as a quiet and comfortable environment. At the same time, it was concluded that the concept of librarian was not formed in most of the students and that their written expressions and drawings included the spatial features of the library rather than its functional features. The results of this study are expected to be effective in raising awareness of the importance of the issue among librarians, academics, school administrators, teachers, family and decision-makers and in increasing collaborative work in this direction.