There were two phases to the data collection in this study. First, a questionnaire
was emailed to UK university librarians (Appendix A). The questionnaire
was designed to identify the extent to which UK university libraries
promote reading for pleasure and the methods and initiatives used, as well
as to gauge librarians’ attitudes to the concept of recreational reading provision
in academic libraries. The aim of the questionnaire was to gather initial
quantitative and brief qualitative data which could be explored further in
research interviews. A list available from the UCAS2 website was used to
identify university libraries in the UK and the director or head librarian of
each library was contacted if their email details could be located. A general
library email was used if their details could not be identified with a
request to forward the questionnaire to the most relevant person. A total of
57 libraries responded to the questionnaire; a response rate of 49.5%. The
questionnaire also asked respondents to provide their contact details if they
would participate in a follow-up interview.