Library and Information Science

The final purpose of this study is to improve the acoustic environment in libraries and to construct the model of the desirable acoustic environment in libraries, based on the theory of soundscape and soundscape design. Before that, it is important to clarify the existing acoustic environment of the facilities. Therefore the author investigated the acoustic environmental awareness of library users by questionnaire, and surveyed the acoustic environment using the sound-level-meter in Urayasu-shiritsu-chuo Library, Chiba Prefecture as a case study.

The result of these surveys, the followings are clarified: 1) The author proved two hypotheses led by the previous survey, and the followings are clarified in Urayasu-shiritsu-chuo Library: ① As the desirable acoustic environment in libraries, library users generally require the soundless environment, but not a few users require a measure of sound-existing environment. ② Library users are aware of children and adult users’ voices and their footsteps as the undesired sound, but they are not aware of the librarians’ voices and footsteps and the sound from the facilities as the undesired sound. Although the small number of libray users hear the sound from the electronic machines, they who hear those sound are aware of some kind of the sound from the elecronic machines as the undesired sound. 2) The libray users are especially aware of children’s voices as the undesired sound. 3) The sound level is quite differnt from the room to room and the corner to corner in Urayasu-shiritsu-chuo Library. The place required be calm and the other place required be lively are both generally on a suitable sound level in the Libray. 4) In order to clarify the acoustic environment in libraries, the survey by questionnaire and the survey using the sound-level-meter supplement their disadvantages each other.