Library in the mirror of research: functionality and quality of services

In the article author presents two approaches to libraries: functional and user defined. From the point of view of functional significance, the library performs the function of personality formation, educational, memorial, and communicative functions. From the point of view of the quality of services received by visitors, the library appears as an architectural, construction and professional library synthesis. The user can evaluate the quality of the services provided in real and virtual space. The library can provide leisure services - clubs, clubs, evenings, lectures, concerts. The functional importance of the library, combined with the high quality of the services provided, should be an attractive place for visitors. To research the real state of affairs, the results of sociological research conducted by All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion in Russia in 2011, 2015, 2022, as well as in libraries in Novosibirsk in 2020 and 2024 are presented. All-Russian Center’s for the Study of Public Opinion results reflect attendance and solutions to the problem of low attendance. The results of the Novosibirsk study reflect an assessment of social attitudes towards libraries. Such an assessment was carried out through a content analysis of the system for collecting customer feedback on products, services, and organizations of Flame. The results of the study of Novosibirsk libraries were compared with some of the results of All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion. The author concluded that the problems of non-attendance are somewhat “far-fetched”, which hide personal lack of activity, low motivation to work with book publications. The results of the research can be used in planning the library’s activities for the development of a user service system.