The Mediating Role of Content Interest in the Relationship Between Temporal Persistence Factors and Reading Behavior of Sociological Books

This study investigates the borrowing behavior of Category C (Sociology, Chinese Library Classification) books at Nanjing Normal University (2016–2024), using a sample of circulation data covering 13,117 book titles, 13,344 readers, and 59,198 loans, via a multi-method approach. For theme analysis, subject terms from the 6XX field (core for CNMARC/UNIMARC subject description) were English-translated, preprocessed (tokenization, word frequency counting), and semantically vectorized. Voyant Tools visualized the top 10 subject categories, 100 high-frequency terms, and cross-period clusters, revealing readers’ thematic preferences. Linear regression took “Length of Borrowing Years” and “Category C9” as independent variables, and “Total Borrowings” as the dependent variable; model metrics confirmed these variables as significant direct predictors. Mediation effect analysis verified C9’s significant mediating role between “Length of Borrowing Years” and “Total Borrowings.” Decision tree analysis used “Renewal” as the dependent variable, and “Total,” “Gender,” “Persistence” as independent variables, identifying “Total” and “Persistence” as key renewal drivers. This study clarifies sociological book borrowing’s temporal patterns, thematic preferences, and influencing factors, providing empirical support for library resource allocation and service optimization.