Purpose: The purpose of current is to study creative economy, entrepreneurship and income generation in Iranian public
libraries from the perspective of researchers in the field of library and librarianship in order to determine the priorities of the
application of creative economics in the management of public libraries in Iran.
Method: The present research is a systematic study and its statistical population included all the researches conducted in
the field of creative economy, entrepreneurship and income generation in public libraries that were published by researchers
in Google Scholar, Lisa, Science Direct, Emerald, Elmnet, Magiran, Noormags and Islamic World Science Citation Center
during the last 30 years. This study was designed and conducted in three main steps. In the first step, after posing the main
questions of the research, the procedure for its implementation was specified and compiled, and the relevant databases were
identified based on a specified framework. In the second step, searching for articles was on the agenda, and after finding each
article and validation of data, screening and evaluation were performed. In the third step, the data were analyzed by statistical
method and then it was interpreted and finally was reported.
Findings: The findings showed that out of the 60 researches studied, 40 percent were Persian and 60 percent were nonPersian. 43.3 percent of the researches referred to the subject of entrepreneurship and 18.3 percent to the subject of income
generation, which indicated a ratio of more than 2 times between the subject of entrepreneurship and the subject of income
generation. Entrepreneurship and income generation have been mentioned in the studied researches as new opportunities to
strengthen the preservation of public service values. 21.6 percent of the researches pointed to the legal obstacles and professional ethical principles as the biggest challenge of the creative economy in public libraries, which may affect the basic missions of free services of public libraries. The fact that was emphasized in the studied researches was the lack of familiarity of
librarians with the skills of income generation and product marketing, which necessitates holding workshops and short-term
trainings.
Originality/value: Public libraries, like any other service organization, need budget and financial resources to achieve
their desired goals, but today the tough sanctions and the current situation of the economy of the society have caused an
excessive increase in the costs of public libraries, and the principle of free public services has been challenged. The studies
show that the creative economy approach is a suitable way to get out of the current situation. Creative economy in cultural and
social environments, especially in public libraries, while it can create added value, is also fully compatible with their ethical
and professional principles. Therefore, the current research considers the creative economy as a great opportunity for public
library managers. By benefiting from the facilities available in the libraries, managers can reduce the dependence on the organizational budget step by step by earning creative income as well as increase the quality of free public services and move in
the direction of resource sustainability and budget deficit compensation.