تحقیقات اطلاعرسانی و کتابخانههای عمومی (Jun 2024)
The Role of Rural Public Libraries in Empowering and Developing the Rural Community
Abstract
Purpose: Despite being mostly small institutions, rural public libraries provide a wide range of services and programs in very different areas of life, including personal education, development of individual and civic skills of all citizens and filling their free times. Rural public libraries are of the factors of development in rural communities and they are also an ideal place to support the development of society and help intellectual and social growth at the individual and social levels. In this regard, the present research identified the role of rural public libraries in the empowerment and development of rural communities in Kermanshah province, Iran. Method: The current research was conducted with a qualitative approach and the research method was the qualitative content analysis. The participants included the officials of rural public libraries under the general administration of the General Administration of the Public libraries of Kermanshah province in the fall of 2023. The purposive sampling was used to select participants and data collection process was continued until data saturation. A total of 14 interviews were conducted and their duration varied between 40 and 75 minutes. The qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze data. In order to validate the research, the criteria of credibility and reliability were used. Findings: The analysis of the interview data led to the formation of two categories including the actions of rural public libraries in empowering villagers and village development and the challenges of rural public libraries in empowering villagers and village development. In the former category, 4 concepts including cultural development, economic development, social development and sustainable development and environmental protection were identified, which show the different aspects of role-playing of rural public libraries of Kermanshah province in empowering villagers and developing their villages. In the latter, i.e. the category of challenges, there are 8 concepts including human resources, information resources, facilities, the quality level of programs and services, measuring the effectiveness of programs and services, factors related to villagers, the level of cooperation and participation and how to inform and advertisement were detected. In general, the rural public libraries of Kermanshah province empowered their local communities and contributed to the development of their villages through their services, activities and programs. By implementing their various programs and services, which mostly continued throughout the week, the aforementioned libraries have been able to raise the cultural, social and economic awareness and insight of the village, showing the colorful and influential role of the book compared to the Internet and establishing the role of the library as a socio-cultural base of the village and taking an effective step. Originality/Value: There has been no research on the role of rural public libraries in the development of their communities in Iran. The findings of this research can be used as a roadmap for rural public libraries in the comprehensive development of their services and programs and their greater impact on the development of their villages.
