The role of public libraries is to support the information activities of local residents by offering library services for their intellectual and cultural activities, including educational activities. The cultural program of a public library accommodat... The role of public libraries is to support the information activities of local residents by offering library services for their intellectual and cultural activities, including educational activities. The cultural program of a public library accommodates the cultural conditions of local residents, so it resolves the problem of inequality in of information and education. Though many studies on the cultural programs of public libraries have been conducted continuously, the findings are limited to describing the role and function of cultural programs and the activation of those programs. In particular, It is hard to find out research regarding cultural programs based on the identity of public libraries and the users' recognition of the libraries. Currently, the cultural programs in public libraries are continuously growing in number in Korea. However, the features of most of cultural programs are mixed with programs of other regional organizations, so it is difficult to determine the identity of the public library in the programs. Thus, the features of cultural programs in public libraries and the relationship between the features and the perception of the libraries by citizens who participate in these programs are investigated in this study to determine the identity of the public library in terms of cultural programs. For the purpose, a pilot study is conductedto identify the features of cultural programs in public libraries through in-depth interviews with the participants of such programs. The features of public libraries' cultural programs are identified as the following five characteristics: continuity, participation cost, instructor, participants’ size, and type of participation. Based on these characteristics, questionnaires were developed and a survey was conducted in nine public libraries in three regions. To minimize the characteristics of users and regions, various public libraries were selected. The data from the survey was analyzed using statistical techniques such as frequency analysis, chi-square test, t-test, and regression analysis. The following are the summary of the analyses. First, the chi-square tests were conducted to find the association between the characteristics in cultural programs and users' perception of cultural programs. The results revealed that the type of participation, participants’ size, participation cost, instructors, and continuity are the major characteristics of cultural programs that affected users' perception of cultural programs. The t-tests, which were conducted to understand the relationship between the characteristics of cultural programs and the users' perception of the public library, revealed that the characterisrics of cultural programs such as type of participation, participants’ size, and continuity affected the perception of the public library as the place for cultural programs. In addition, the regression analyses, which were conducted to identify the effects of the users' perception of cultural programs on their perception of the public library, identified the effects of the memory of participating in the programs and the programs of hobbies/parenting/special lectures/self-discovery on the perception of the public library's role and the necessity of librarians. Last, hierarchical regression analyses were conducted by setting user characteristics as the moderator variables. The intent was to figure out the individual characteristics of users in terms of the relationship between the users' program perception and perception of the public library and the characteristics of cultural programs. As a result, user characteristics affected the characteristics of cultural programs and the relationship between the perception of the cultural programs and the perception of the public libraries. The results confirmed that the characteristics of a cultural program and the participants' perception of it affected the perception of the public libraries. Based on these results, the characteristics that must be considered to develop optimal cultural programs in public libraries for improving users' perception of the public libraries are continuity, participation cost, instructor, participants’ size, and type of participation. Furthermore, the above mentioned characteristics affected the perception of both the role of public libraries and the necessity of librarians. Therefore, the librarians' professional abilities is required to establish and implement various library programs for the residents and their community. This study aimed at understanding the identity of the public library and the characteristics of cultural programs, as well as to analyze users' perception of the public library and cultural programs. This study suggests the possibility of improving the perception of the public libraries through the cognitive approach to cultural programs.
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