IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i19p8343-d1485699.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Type of Public Library Best Supports Agricultural Economic Development? An Empirical Study Based on Rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Dimeng Zhang

    (Hangzhou City University Library, Hangzhou City University, Hangzhou 310015, China)

  • Jiayao Li

    (College of Art and Communication, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 314423, China)

  • Yingchi Ye

    (Future Front Interdisciplinary Research Institute, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Rong Zhang

    (Future Front Interdisciplinary Research Institute, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Yuntao Zou

    (Future Front Interdisciplinary Research Institute, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
    School of Computer of Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

Abstract

Modernizing agricultural economies requires the infusion of knowledge and industrialization, necessitating the bridging of the “digital divide” and “talent gap” between urban and rural areas. Public libraries, as key knowledge dissemination institutions, play a crucial role in this process. This study aimed to explore how the development of such institutions can align with agricultural economic growth. Using China as a case study, where the Rural Revitalization Strategy has been implemented in recent years, including the extensive construction of rural public libraries and other infrastructure, we empirically analyzed the correlation between county-level public libraries and agricultural economic development from 2012 to 2019. The results show that the number of county-level public libraries and their assets, collection sizes, e-books, and professional staff have a significant positive impact on agricultural economics, while non-professional staff and facilities have a negative impact. It is recommended that future rural public library development should focus on enhancing professional standards and advancing digitalization and mobile internet integration, while being cautious about expanding the physical scale and staffing. This study fills a gap in the research on the correlation between rural public libraries and agricultural economics, and the methodology employed has a certain degree of general applicability. However, the applicability of the conclusions may be limited by China’s unique national conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Dimeng Zhang & Jiayao Li & Yingchi Ye & Rong Zhang & Yuntao Zou, 2024. "What Type of Public Library Best Supports Agricultural Economic Development? An Empirical Study Based on Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:19:p:8343-:d:1485699
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/19/8343/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/19/8343/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yuan Wang & Yifang Huang & Yihua Zhang, 2023. "Coupling and Coordinated Development of Digital Economy and Rural Revitalisation and Analysis of Influencing Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-23, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wenqi Li & Li Zhang & Inhee Lee & Menelaos Gkartzios, 2023. "Overview of Social Policies for Town and Village Development in Response to Rural Shrinkage in East Asia: The Cases of Japan, South Korea and China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Wanxiang Nong & Jun Wen & Jingyue He, 2024. "Spatial-Temporal Variations and Driving Factors of the Coupling and Coordination Level of the Digital Economy and Sustainable Rural Development: A Case Study of China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-25, May.
    3. Uchendu Eugene Chigbu & Michael Klaus & Wenjun Zhang & Laina Alexander, 2023. "Rural Land Management and Revitalization through a Locally Coordinated Integrated Master Plan—A Model from Germany to China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Yihua Zhang & Xinxin Hong & Yuan Wang, 2023. "Study on the Coupled and Coordinated Development and Evolution of Digital Economy and Green Technology Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Jiajia Meng & Baoyu Zhao & Yuxiao Song & Xiaomei Lin, 2024. "Research on the Spatial Dynamic Evolution of Digital Agriculture—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:19:p:8343-:d:1485699. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.