Evaluation of children's picture books of eskişehir provincial public library

The characteristics of children's literature work change according to the targeted age group. It is among the main duties of public libraries to bring children together with books that are suitable for their age and will support their development. In this regard, it is important to evaluate the children's collections of public libraries serving every child equally in the light of the principles of children's book design. The aim of the study was to evaluate the children's picture book collection in the Eskisehir Province Public Library in terms of external and internal structural elements and to examine the effect of these elements on the state of borrowing these books. The researcher developed a "Children's Picture Book Evaluation Form" to evaluate the books. The population of the study included children's picture books published between 2015 and 2019 for children aged between 0-7 in the Eskisehir Province Public Library. The random sampling method was used in this descriptive study and selected 130 children's picture books were evaluated. According to the results of the study, the external and internal structural elements such as the interesting visual effect of the book cover, cover pictures' reflecting the subject, pictures qualified in a way for the child to form a story, the suitability of the ratio of pictures to text, the suitability of the book to the development level, interest and needs of the child, and the book's quality of making the child willing to read it positively affect the state of borrowing the books. The results confirmed the hypothesis that "The external and internal structural properties and the elements of suitability for children of the children's picture books in the collection of the Eskisehir Province Public Library affect their state of borrowing". Some recommendations were made at the end of the study.