Abstract

To resolve the problem that multicultural people in Korea suffer from difficulties especially with prejudice and discrimination, it is necessary to raise the cultural diversity in communities in Korea through cultivating multicultural awareness among non-multicultural people. In this vein, public libraries, as cultural exchange institutes, can affect multicultural awareness of the people. This study investigated how characteristics of public libraries and their local communities are related to the users' multicultural awareness. The study found that multicultural awareness of library users was significantly influenced by the characteristics of public libraries but not by the characteristics of communities. It is suggested that public libraries should consider cultural diversity on overall library services for their general users to support their multicultural awareness.