Review of studies on scientific literacy promotion in foreign libraries

Abstract

Science plays an important role in ensuring the society’s well-being and performs a number of functions, of which the most significant are to build new knowledge, improve education, and increase the quality of life. The new stage of science-society communications is characterized by the expansion of civil participation in planning, conducting and financing of scientific research. One of the main tasks of science communication is to increase scientific literacy (SL) of nonscientists. The documents analysis demonstrates that the developed countries pay special attention to scientific thinking and SL promotion, and all social institutions, including libraries, are engaged in appropriate activities. In recent decades, the study of the SL formation features has become a popular research topic worldwide. However, Russian library studies pay insufficient attention to the foreign experience in the field. The goal of this paper is to review and analyze English-language publications on “scientific literacy in libraries”. The author characterizes in detail such vectors of activities as development of popular science collections, participation of libraries in STEM education, and other practices of foreign libraries in teaching SL.