Search

Objective: The purpose of this research was to analyze the factors and barriers affecting banefactpors’ participation of benefactors in the construction and equipment of public libraries in East Azerbaijan province. Method: The present applied research was carried out with a qualitative approach and conventional qualitative content analysis method. The participants of the study included all the benefactors partaking in the construction and equipment of public libraries in East Azerbaijan province who had two conditions; participation within the years 1389 to 1400 and participation valued more than one hundred million Rials. The samples were purposefully selected for a semi-structured interview. The interview was conducted up to the theoretical saturation stage and a total of eleven benefactors were interviewed. In order to validate the findings, criteria such as credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability were used. The findings were analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis methods. Findings: Based on analyzing interview transcripts, 88 semantic codes, 20 sub-categories (regulations and statutes, activation of the Association of Library Benefactors, advertising, training and veneration, organizational support for employees, the ability to communicate with government officials, the skills of attracting benefactors, the skills of retaining benefactors, the function of country laws, the function of governance, benefactors' cultural contexts, benefactors' economic and social contexts, cultural beliefs, personality beliefs, religious and moral beliefs, bureaucratic obstacles, financial obstacles, lack of proper management, inefficient culture-making, governance shortcomings, and the shortcomings of the country's laws), seven general categories (the role of public libraries foundation in the motivation of benefactors, the role of library officials in the motivation of benefactors, the effect of governance and laws in the motivation of benefactors, impact of cultural, economic and social contexts on the motivation of benefactors, personal beliefs of benefactors, shortcomings of the public libraries foundation in the motivation of benefactors and shortcomings of governance and laws in the motivation of benefactors) and two main components (motivational factors in attracting benefactors and barriers to attracting benefactors) were identified. Based on the emphasis of the participating benefactors, it can be concluded that among the effective factors in benefactors’ participation in the construction and equipment of public libraries, the cultural, economic and social context as well as personal beliefs were the most two important motivational factors. Also, according to participating benefactors, the most important obstacle to non-participation of benefactors in the construction and equipment of the library was the lack of sufficient enlightenment for the necessity of the library, which indicates a weakness in culture building. Originality/value: In order to expand library benefactors’ participation, it is necessary that the Institution of Public Libraries (as the guardian of the expansion of public libraries) should pay special attention to the effective motivational factors in this participation and the obstacles in this path. The present study adopted a qualitative approach to identify the factors affecting the benefactors’ participation in the construction and equipment of public libraries from the viewpoint of participating benefactors. The findings of this research can provide the managers and experts of the Institution of Public Libraries with more accurate information and perspective for more precise planning and removing obstacles and shortcomings in this field. It can also provide a basis for conducting future research in this field and expanding its theoretical foundations.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of information literacy on creativity and job involvement of librarians. Methodlogy: This applied and quantitative research was conducted with survey method. The data collection tools were three standard questionnaires. The face validity of the measurement tool was confirmed by experts and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which was 0.94 for information literacy, 0.71 for creativity and 0.85 for job involvement. The statistical population was a total number of 148 librarians affiliated to the Public Libraries of West Azerbaijan Province that 121 of them completed the questionnaire. Statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS software.Findlings: Based on Pearson test, there was a positive and significant relationship between librarians' information literacy with their creativity (r = 0.351) and job involvement (r = 0.276). Also, a positive and significant relationship (r = 0.240) was observed between creativity and job involvement of librarians. Findings of multiple regression test showed that creativity can be predicted by two dimensions of information literacy; also, one dimension of information literacy can predicted the librarians' job involvement.Conclusion: Information literacy and creativity of librarians of the public libraries of West Azerbaijan province are at a good level and their job involvement is moderate. As librarians' information literacy increases, so does their job involvement and creativity.Value: This study examined the information literacy, creativity and job involvement of librarians as well as the relationship between these variables in a study.

The aim of this research is to study the quality of services in the public libraries of Tabriz. This applied research was conducted with a quantitative approach and a survey method. The statistical population of the study was 37931 members of the Public Libraries of Tabriz and the sample size was 380 cases that were selected by stratified random sampling. The data collection tool was the standard LIBQUAL questionnaire and its reliability in the present study based on Cronbach's alpha was 0.93. In order to answer the questions and hypotheses, descriptive and inferential statistics were used using SPSS 24 statistical software. In general, in the three dimensions of LIBQUAL, the average level of minimum expectations of respondents was 4.39, the average level of received services was 5.70 and the average level of maximum expectations was 6.68. The difference between users' expectations and the level of received services in each dimension of the LIBQUAL was not higher than of the maximum expectations. The results of paired t-test confirmed the existence of a significant difference between the maximum expectations and the level of received services by users and also the existence of a significant difference between the minimum expectations and the level of received services by users in all dimensions of the LIBQUAL. It can be concluded that although the libraries have been able to meet the minimum expectations of the users in all cases partly, but the maximum expectations of the users have not been met yet.

The purpose of this study is to identify challenges and providing approaches towards attracting new- literate adults to the public libraries from the librarians’ perspectives. The method is qualitative exploratory case study. The population is public librarians and the sample are 14 librarians employed in public libraries of the city of Azarshahr. Using purposive sampling data were gathered by semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using Glasser & Strauss’ Coding Technique. The participants of this research disclosed some major challenges towards attracting new literate adults to the public libraries including individual, social, physical, publishing and organizational challenges. Also The participants suggested some approaches to deal with the challenges such as cultural advertising, providing further support and facilities for the new literates by the public libraries and library cooperation with the other organizations. Applying the findings of this study would enable the public libraries to provide suitable services with the aim of attracting more new literate users to the public libraries.