Purpose: Budget cuts on the one hand and the need to provide new and creative services on the other hand, have prompted managers and librarians to find ways to generate income and create opportunities. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors affecting income generation in Iran’s public libraries.
Method: This research is an applied study of the systematic review type and was carried out with the meta-analysis method. The statistical population includes all scientific and research articles on income generation and marketing in public libraries published in Persian language journals. The data collection tool was a researcher-made checklist and the vital tool used was Glynn. The collected data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software (version 2.0).
Findings: The findings showed that at the 95% confidence level, individuals, location, product, encouragement and persuasion, price, service quality, interaction with the audience, and personalization of services are effective components of income generation in libraries. Individuals have a strong effect size, and the location, product, encouragement and persuasion, and price have a medium effect size. The effect size of the service quality, interaction with the audience, and personalization of services are weak. The results of heterogeneity tests showed that the studies under review were heterogeneous, and thus, the random effect size was used. The funnel plot showed a high standard error and high bias. In other words, the distribution of studies is not normal and random. Creating a balance between income generation and the main mission is one of the important considerations for public libraries. Libraries can help to establish this balance by relying on strategies such as: focusing on providing high-quality services and resources, prioritizing the needs of society, clarifying the flow of income generation, and focusing on the goals and mission of public libraries. Among the measures that improve the flow of income in libraries are: creating suitable infrastructures with the changes and developments resulting from information and communication technologies and creating coherent information systems, providing diverse information services, developing appropriate programs and strategies for promoting products, reforming the working structure of the library, proper cooperation and communication with other entrepreneurial and philanthropic organizations, recruiting librarians and creative specialists and inviting experts from various scientific fields to provide information advice, evaluating the services and products offered, and providing services according to the information needs of users.
Originality/value: Due to the budget cuts and economic recession imposed on government institutions, the implementation of revenue generation and marketing models in libraries has become more important than ever. This study seeks to identify the most important factors affecting income generation in public libraries by reviewing previous studies.