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In an effort to advance visual literacy (VL) education, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a VL instruction program for 2.5-4-year-old children in a public library setting.

The study was designed as a series of VL workshops for young public library visitors. Each workshop collected information about children’s existing VL knowledge, introduced them to new visual concepts, and measured their engagement and comprehension of the newly acquired material. The study data were collected via questionnaires and observations.

Most of the children who participated in the study workshops showed a solid baseline knowledge of colors, lines, shapes and textures and were actively engaged in instruction. After the instruction, children generally showed an improved understanding of the newly introduced VL concepts and were able to answer questions related to the new concepts, recognize them in images, and apply them in art projects.

The study relied on a relatively small sample of library visitors in an affluent neighborhood. The findings are influenced by variations in the topics and delivery methods of instruction. The study findings might not be generalizable beyond the US context.

The study methods and findings would be useful to VL educators who work with children.

As information continues to proliferate in non-textual contexts, VL is becoming an increasingly important educational goal. The study advances a VL agenda and advocates for introducing VL early in life.

The authors are not aware of any other study that tested VL instruction on a group of very young children in a public library.

This study aims to determine college/university students’ mobile phone practices to understand key user preferences and set a baseline understanding for the development of prospective library informational mobile services.

This study is based on the results of an online-survey method. The authors recruited students majoring in the Information Science program in School of Information at Pratt Institute (USA) (74 participants) and in Kyiv National University of Cultural and Arts (Ukraine) (89 participants).

The general trends in the use of mobile technologies by American and Ukrainian students were identified. Key components of library mobile services are offered. Such services may include information and reference service via messengers; development of library mobile applications of audio and video content; access to educational, scientific, popular science literature and fiction; and supplementing online services with library chatbots.

This study was limited to only students majoring in information science at university; however, the data obtained helps outline several general trends common to student youth who are actively working with information.

The obtained results will be useful in the practical activities of libraries and other information institutions for the development of a comprehensive information service based on mobile technology.

This study contributes to understanding how to improve library informational service considering users habits and preferences. Libraries management and librarians can use the findings as a basis for prioritizing the improvement of library informational mobile service.