Iran Public libraries Foundation Research on Information Science and Public Libraries 2645-5730 28 2 2022 08 25 An Assessment of the status of rural libraries services in East Azarbaijan Province and the villagers’ viewpoint toward the libraries effect on reduction of social deprivation An Assessment of the status of rural libraries services in East Azarbaijan Province and the villagers’ viewpoint toward the libraries effect on reduction of social deprivation 52 34 726435 10.52547/publij.28.2.34 FA Solmaz Zardari Assistant Prof., Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Tabriz, Iran Hashem Atapour Assistant Prof., Department of Knowledge and Information Science, Tabriz, Iran 0000-0003-0763-8413 Sudabeh Zare Darabi MSc in Knowledge and Information Science, Librarian of Shahid Alameh Amini Library, Tabriz, Iran Journal Article 2022 07 07 Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the status of rural libraries services in East Azarbaijan province and<br />surveying the villagers’ viewpoints on the libraries’ effect on the reduction of social deprivation.<br />Method: The current research is applied in terms of research objectives and descriptive in terms of data collection, which<br />was carried out using a survey method. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire’s reliability value based on Alpha Cronbach is 0.79 as and its validity was confirmed by experts. The statistical population of this<br />research includes the users of 18 rural libraries operating in East Azarbaijan province, who numbered 43,635. From these<br />people, 380 ones were selected as the research sample according to Krejcie and Morgan’s formula for sample size. The data<br />were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including t-test.<br />Findings: Based on the results, different types of services were identified provided by rural libraries of East Azarbaijan<br />Province. “Making books accessible” is a role that most of the respondents believe that their respective rural libraries do perform. On the other hand, most of the respondents believed that the rural library of their region does not fulfill its role well in<br />the “dissemination of information resources and providing services in the local language” and “making electronic and internet<br />resources accessible”. Regarding the barriers to the use of rural libraries, “the disproportion of the provided services to the needs<br />of the villagers” was identified as the biggest obstacle to the use of rural libraries in East Azarbaijan province. From the viewpoint of rural users, the effect of rural libraries on the “sense of citizenship” and “life satisfaction” is moderate, while the effect<br />of rural libraries on the social alienation (negagtive impact) and social interaction is slightly higher than average.<br />Originality/value: The contributions of this research are in investigating the role of rural libraries in East Azarbaijan province in providing information services and in identifying the views of rural library users on the effect of libraries in reducing<br />social deprivation. Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the status of rural libraries services in East Azarbaijan province and<br />surveying the villagers’ viewpoints on the libraries’ effect on the reduction of social deprivation.<br />Method: The current research is applied in terms of research objectives and descriptive in terms of data collection, which<br />was carried out using a survey method. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire’s reliability value based on Alpha Cronbach is 0.79 as and its validity was confirmed by experts. The statistical population of this<br />research includes the users of 18 rural libraries operating in East Azarbaijan province, who numbered 43,635. From these<br />people, 380 ones were selected as the research sample according to Krejcie and Morgan’s formula for sample size. The data<br />were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics including t-test.<br />Findings: Based on the results, different types of services were identified provided by rural libraries of East Azarbaijan<br />Province. “Making books accessible” is a role that most of the respondents believe that their respective rural libraries do perform. On the other hand, most of the respondents believed that the rural library of their region does not fulfill its role well in<br />the “dissemination of information resources and providing services in the local language” and “making electronic and internet<br />resources accessible”. Regarding the barriers to the use of rural libraries, “the disproportion of the provided services to the needs<br />of the villagers” was identified as the biggest obstacle to the use of rural libraries in East Azarbaijan province. From the viewpoint of rural users, the effect of rural libraries on the “sense of citizenship” and “life satisfaction” is moderate, while the effect<br />of rural libraries on the social alienation (negagtive impact) and social interaction is slightly higher than average.<br />Originality/value: The contributions of this research are in investigating the role of rural libraries in East Azarbaijan province in providing information services and in identifying the views of rural library users on the effect of libraries in reducing<br />social deprivation. https://publij.ir/article_726435_34af87243f26d5dcb84675ed06eefc9d.pdf