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The purpose of this research was to investigate how Australian public libraries responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of management, planning and communication. The study also investigated operational approaches to the development and implementation of new and adapted models of service and resource delivery.

Utilising a multiple qualitative case study approach, interviews were conducted with 15 Australian public library staff members at three library services – one inner-city, one regional and one remote. Inductive thematic analysis was employed to generate insights into the operations and management strategies employed during the COVID-19 crisis.

Findings suggest that public library managers performed admirably in the face of significant logistical, budgetary and regulatory challenges. Five key themes emerged to represent the ways in which public library leaders responded effectively to the crisis: resourcefulness, flexibility, presence, sensitivity and communication. Results also demonstrate the importance placed on library users’ welfare.

This research represents the first study to focus on the response of Australian public library managers to the significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify the strategies employed by library leaders to respond effectively. In doing so this research provides valuable insights into how public library managers can prepare for future crises.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the conditions that affect the absorptive capacity (AC) of knowledge, discover its consequences and design an AC paradigm pattern in public academic libraries. To do so, AC was investigated at the levels of individual and organizational learning.

In this paper, to answer the three major questions of this qualitative-survey study, the views of 24 experts were examined using an in-depth semi-structured interview and grounded theory strategy. The data were collected using a nonrandom combined targeted sampling procedure (targeted and snowball) and analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) approach and utilizing MAX Qualitative Data Analysis (MAXQDA) software.

Throughout the grounded analytic stages, 121 open codes were identified. These were distributed around the AC axial category in academic libraries in terms of individual and organizational learning. The 33 axial concepts were then categorized into 16 selective general categories. The paradigm pattern was initially designed to explore the relationships between causal, intervening, strategies, context and consequences conditions. The transition from academic libraries to learning organizations, their increased functional value and the development of their innovation were identified as the consequences of AC development.

This qualitative research is the first in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) to support AC both theoretically and empirically in terms of learning in academic libraries. This study thus not only addresses a key research gap in LIS but also provides significant insights and direction to interested librarians and researchers.

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of emerging technologies in e-learning on university librarians and libraries. The study also intended to identify emerging technologies in e-learning and challenges being faced to implement e-learning technologies.

The preferred reporting items for the systematic review and meta-analysis method was applied as the research methodology for conducting the study. A total of 25 core studies published in peer-reviewed journals were selected to conduct a systematic literature review. The data were analysed through a thematic approach.

The results of the study revealed that e-learning technologies assist library professionals to strengthen their expertise and support them in initiating smart library services to deliver customer-focused services. A shortage of skilled manpower, the unavailability of adequate IT infrastructure, a lack of technical support, copyright issues, poor planning and ineffective library leadership are major challenges to implementing emerging technologies in e-learning.

The study offers theoretical implications by adding valuable literature to the existing body of knowledge. It has a societal impact as it has offered recommendations and practical solutions for the successful adoption of emerging technologies in e-learning. The study also offers managerial implications to develop fruitful policies for implementing e-learning technologies for the innovative sustainable competence development of library manpower and implementation of smart library services.

Public libraries are incubators for collective action in the knowledge economy. As three case studies from the United States and Singapore demonstrate, public libraries can serve as influential champions that garner financial resources, communicate an urgent need for change, and respond to the unmet information and economic needs of marginalized individuals and communities. In the Raise Up Radio (RUR) case, public librarians engaged schools, museums, youth, and families in rural communities to develop and deliver STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) content over local radio stations. In collaboration with organizational partners, RUR librarians created a model for library-community-radio projects for the rural United States. In the What Health Looks Like (WHLL) case, public librarians engaged senior citizens in discussions of health and the creation of health comics. In partnership with an interdisciplinary health research team, WHLL librarians developed a pilot for library-community-public health projects aimed at information dissemination and health narrative generation. In the Singapore shopping mall libraries case, the National Library Board (NLB) created public libraries in commercial spaces serving working families, senior citizens, and the Chinese community. The NLB developed an exportable model for locating information centers in convenient, popular, and useful business spaces. These case studies demonstrate how libraries are nodes in the knowledge economy, providing vital services such as preservation of cultural heritage, technology education, community outreach, information access, and services to working families, small- and medium-size businesses, and other patrons. In the years to come, public libraries will be called upon to respond to shifting social norms, inequitable opportunities, emergencies and disasters, and information asymmetries. As the cases of RUR, WHLL, and the shopping mall libraries show, public librarians have the vision and capacities to serve as influential champions for collective action to solve complex problems and foster sustainable development and equitable participation in the knowledge economy.

Motivation of the employees is extensively considered as an antidote for the overall success of the organizations. This study primarily aims to investigate the impact of motivation on the job performance of university librarians in Pakistan.

Quantitative research design followed by a survey method under an extended theory of motivation was applied. Data were collected from 123 professional librarians of 79 university libraries in Punjab province, Pakistan. The study tested hypotheses having used regression statistical test through Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (Version 26).

Results of the study revealed that motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic), the expectation of benefits, satisfaction of meta needs and challenging situations have a strong positive impact on the optimum job performance of university librarians.

This research has theoretical implications for the researchers and practical insights for human resource managers to get maximum outcomes for organizational development. The results of the study may be generalized to the university libraries of other countries having similar socio-economic and cultural situations.

This study developed a framework based upon empirically tested hypotheses that might be used as drivers for different motivation practices to augment employees’ commitment to the organizations.

The purpose of this study is to describe the role of geographical information system (GIS) in public libraries. The study shed light on various functions of GIS in the public library scenario. It further elaborates on the scope of GIS, its functions and the multiple challenges faced by library staff in implementation in public library.

A qualitative study was conducted by exploring articles published in top databases like Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, SpringerLink, Google Scholar, etc. The study reveals that GIS has been part of multiple businesses for the past few years, and its role is expanding at an alarming rate in public libraries for the past 10 years.

The study reveals that GIS deals with the geospatial characteristics of the data set, and the public library’s prime role is to visualize large quantities of disparate data in one data set.

The study will further wider the scope of the GIS in public library scenario. Experts in GIS and library field will get an extensive information and optimum benefits by reading this paper.

This study aims to examine the use of social media by academic librarians at universities in Zimbabwe with particular focus on the application of the four key constructs of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model. This study assesses the degree to which academic librarians in Zimbabwe believe that using social media enhances service delivery, the extent to which academic librarians perceive social media as easy to use, the influence of peers on social media use among academic librarians and the extent to which facilitating conditions influence social media use.

A pragmatist worldview in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted, this multiple case study used face-to-face interviews, self-administered questionnaires and content analysis for collecting data.

Academic librarians in Zimbabwe perceive social media tools to be useful and easy to use in the provision of services. Social influence had a moderate effect on academic librarians’ use of social media for service delivery at universities in Zimbabwe, but they feel that their supervisors do not provide enough help for them to use social media.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar study has been done previously in Zimbabwe. This multiple case study presents useful findings on the acceptance and use of social media by academic librarians in Zimbabwe.

The library profession must embrace the idea that every job is a climate job, and confront the realities of the wider world through a lens of climate justice, as they prioritize relevant and responsive services and programs. The broad issue of sustainability has permeated the core of library services and is transforming the foundation upon which public libraries build their ideals.

By viewing every job as a climate job, libraries and library workers are true sustainability leaders. The triple bottom line (TBL) framework leads libraries into the realm of sustainable thinking, allowing what once felt overwhelming and unattainable to turn into something powerful and dynamic because of collective impact and the recognition that: local matters, working together matters, focusing on diversity matters, and helping all voices be heard matters. Libraries matter because we continue to work together toward meaningful change.

This chapter explores a unique library certification program centered on sustainability and the TBL framework that allows library workers from public, academic, and school libraries to shine a lens on climate justice and climate action work, through offering innovative programs, collections, and services that also use the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guide toward making every job a climate job.

Continuous professional development (CPD) plays a crucial role in the library workplace by equipping library and information science (LIS) professionals with the skills and technical knowledge to bridge the theory-praxis gap, assuring that library practitioners and their organisations continue to innovate and stay successful and tailored to the requirement of their users. The aim of the study was to investigate the channels of CPD for LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Northern India. Also, it explored the motivations and barriers related to the LIS professionals’ CPD.

The study adopted a quantitative research design followed by the survey research method. The study population included LIS professionals working in the university libraries of Northern India. Data was gathered from 177 respondents via the census sampling method.

LIS professionals engaged in CPD activities through multiple channels. Intrinsic factors primarily governed the motivation for CPD. Similarly, time and finance were significant challenges for LIS CPD. Lastly, most libraries were headed by in-charge librarians (non-professionals). De-professionalisation, or the deliberate de-skilling of professional roles, threatens the basis upon which librarians establish their credibility as professionals.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first of its kind from the perspective of a developing country, adding to the CPD literature in academic libraries.

This paper aims to investigate technostress and information and communication technology (ICT) usage among librarians in Nigerian universities.

Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The data generated were analyzed using mean, frequency count and percentage.

A moderate extent of psychological, emotional and physical technostress was found among the librarians. The findings further revealed that technostress among the librarians could be reduced through organizational and technical support and the involvement of librarians in the ICT implementation process. The hypotheses tested revealed that there was a significant relationship between technostress and ICT usage among the librarians; female librarians exhibit a higher extent of technostress than male librarians, and there is no difference in the extent of ICT usage between male and female librarians in Nigerian universities.

Librarians cannot effectively use ICTs if they exhibit technostress.

The work is a creative attempt to know the difference in the extent of technostress and ICT usage among male and female librarians in Nigerian universities.