Profession: Librarian

• Co-operation Activities
• Collections and Services
• Studies and Research
  • Bpi's Public and Use
  • Libraries and Cultural Practices
• Training
• Bpi Founding Decree

Libraries and Cultural Practices

In addition to its studies in the Bpi's areas of competence, the Studies and Research Department organises an annual programme of research at the national level, at the request of the Books and Reading Department of the Ministry of Culture.

Study under way: young adults and the magazine press

At a time when there is considerable concern about the reduced reading of books by the younger generation, the magazine press, with its wide distribution and great diversity, would seem to constitute an especially interesting field of research. This study, divided into two parts, will examine on the one hand the editorial content of the titles that are popular with young adults (semiotic approach), and on the other hand the behaviour of this public (behavioural approach).

Prior to this project, Jean-François Barbier-Bouvet, sociologist, former Director of the Bpi's Studies and Research Department and now Director of Studies and Research for the Télérama / La Vie Group, had been commissioned to undertake an exploratory study.

• This exploratory study (PDF file; in French), entitled La lecture de la presse magazine par les jeunes adultes, can be consulted on-line .

Study under way: qualitative study about the readers of mangas

The importance of comic-books in France is widely recognised, whether it is a matter of the variety of what is published, the commercial dynamism of the sector or the diversity of their readers. But at present there exists very little data about the current readership in this field, in particular about those who read mangas (a genre that represents 43% of the sales of comic-books in France). This qualitative survey, launched in 2008, seeks to shed light on the processes of reception, the social functions of reading mangas, as well as the representations and value systems of their readers.

• This study is in the process of being completed and will soon be the subject of a publication (in French).

Study under way: independent bookshops

This research seeks to examine the issue of the social and cultural impact that independent bookshops have in a given geographical area. A bookshop is a place that is connected to others in the city, subject to local dynamics, but that also participates in the creativity of an area. It is for this reason that a particular attention is paid to the longitudinal dimension, to the impact of the bookshop over time, and to the personality of the bookseller, or the bookshop's founder or manager.

• This study is in the process of being completed and will soon be the subject of a publication (in French).

11-18 year olds and municipal libraries

Questions are raised at regular intervals about the ways in which adolescents and pre-adolescents perceive reading and the world of libraries. This new survey, launched in 2008, seeks to update the existing data and to examine more deeply an issue that may be summarised by the following question: how important in general is the municipal library in the minds of youngsters (11-18 years) today, as well as when they look for information, and in their leisure and cultural activities?

• The results of this study are presented in the summary report (PDF file; in French) published by the 'Éditions de la Bibliothèque publique d'information'.