Editing Library (section)

=== Usage ===
[[File:Interior, National Library of Finland, 2019 (02).jpg|thumb|Interior of the [[National Library of Finland]] in [[Helsinki]]]]
Some patrons may not know how to fully utilize library resources, or feel unease in approaching a staff member. Ways in which a library's content is displayed or accessed may have an impact on use. An antiquated or clumsy search system, or staff unwilling or not properly trained to engage their patrons, will limit a library's usefulness. In the [[public library|public libraries]] of the United States, beginning in the 19th century, these problems drove the emergence of the [[library instruction]] movement, which advocated library user education.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weiss |first=S.C. |date=2003 |title=The origin of library instruction in the United States, 1820–1900 |journal=Research Strategies |volume=19 |issue=3/4 |pages=233–43 |doi=10.1016/j.resstr.2004.11.001}}</ref> One of the early leaders was [[John Cotton Dana]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mattson |first=K. |date=2000 |title=The librarian as secular minister to democracy: The life and ideas of John Cotton Dana |journal=Libraries & Culture |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=514–34}}</ref> The basic form of library instruction is sometimes known as [[information literacy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Robinson |first=T.E. |date=2006 |title=Information literacy: Adapting to the media age |journal=Alki |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=10–12}}</ref>

Libraries should inform their users of what materials are available in their collections and how to access that information. Before the computer age, this was accomplished by the card [[library catalog|catalogue]]—a cabinet (or multiple cabinets) containing many drawers filled with [[index card]]s that identified books and other materials. In a large library, the card catalogue often filled a large room.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parks |first=Amelia |date=2025-05-19 |title=Preservation in Motion: Moving the Library’s Card Catalog {{!}} Guardians of Memory |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/preservation/2025/05/moving-the-card-catalog/ |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=The Library of Congress}}</ref>

The emergence of [[desktop computer]]s and the [[Internet]], however, has led to the adoption of electronic catalogue databases (often referred to as "webcats" or as [[online public access catalog]]ues, OPACs), which allow users to search the library's holdings from any location with Internet access.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sloan |first1=B |last2=White |first2=M.S.B. |date=1992 |title=Online public access catalogs |journal=Academic and Library Computing |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=9–13 |doi=10.1108/EUM0000000003734}}</ref> This style of catalogue maintenance is compatible with new types of libraries, such as [[digital library|digital libraries]] and [[distributed library|distributed libraries]], as well as older libraries that have been [[retrofitting|retrofitted]]. Large libraries may be scattered within multiple buildings across a town, each having multiple floors, with multiple rooms housing their resources across a series of shelves called [[Bay (shelving)|bays]]. Once a user has located a resource within the catalogue, they must then use navigational guidance to retrieve the resource physically, a process that may be assisted through signage, maps, [[GPS]] systems, or [[RFID]] tagging.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

[[Finland]] has the highest number of registered book borrowers per capita in the world. Over half of Finland's population are registered borrowers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Pantzar |first=Katja |date=September 2010 |title=The humble Number One: Finland |url=https://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=160064&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813045018/http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=160064&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |archive-date=13 August 2011 |access-date=17 March 2012 |publisher=This is Finland}}</ref> In the US, public library users have borrowed on average roughly 15 books per user per year from 1856 to 1978. From 1978 to 2004, book circulation per user declined approximately 50%. The growth of audiovisuals circulation, estimated at 25% of total circulation in 2004, accounts for about half of this decline.<ref>{{cite web |last=Galbi |first=Douglas |date=July 29, 2007 |title=Book Circulation Per U.S. Public Library Iser Since 1856 |url=https://galbithink.org/libraries/circulation.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128055200/http://galbithink.org/libraries/circulation.htm |archive-date=28 November 2021 |access-date=May 7, 2022 |website=GALB}}</ref>