Research on public libraries is conducted in library and information science schools, commercial firms, state library agencies, research institutes, and some public libraries and library systems. While a number of library science professionals demand research, there appears to be a lack of the communication of research results so that they may be used by practitioners. It is suggested that very little is known about what public library research gets used, by whom, for what purposes, and with what, if any, impact. That this problem has been recognized by the library community is evidenced by the fact that research utilization is included as one of the major items on the library and information science research agenda for the 1980s. Based on a review of literature, this paper describes methodologies that have been used in library research and suggests a variety of reasons why public librarians have not put the research findings to use, including: bibliographic methods for locating and disseminating public library research to practitioners are inadequate; the majority of knowledge utilized by public librarians is "soft knowledge," and empirical studies on the utilization of library research are few; many researchers are indifferent to the diffusion of their results; and public library research findings are often written in a form unacceptable to practitioners. The problem solving approach is described as the most common approach of public librarians to research. The paper concludes with recommendations for more effective dissemination and, therefore, utilization of public library research. (THC)