Senior citizens’ servicescape preferences regarding senior active learning centers in the public libraries

Public libraries are viewed as the local gateway to knowledge, therefore the design of public libraries should reflect its function for providing services and adapt the change of environment. Since 1993, Taiwan has been included as one of the aging societies, as a result, the servicescape design of the senior-exclusive area in libraries becomes a significant issue. With this regard, this study aims to understand from the senior users’ perspective of the way that servicescape should be designed. This study used “Photo-elicitation” as its data collection method. Twenty-four senior users, who are the patrons of Senior Active Learning Centers in Taipei Public Library were interviewed, and a total of 284 photographs were solicited and used as data source. In addition to exploring senior users’ preference of servicescape, this study also attempts to construct a framework that serves as guidance for designing and evaluating servicescape in public libraries.