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By 2030, one in six people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. As the average age of population increases, governments are increasingly called upon to implement policies to address the needs and interests of older people, including those related to housing, employment, health care, social protection, and other forms of intergenerational solidarity. Public libraries, as trusted community hubs, have the opportunity to serve as an environment for reflection and dialogue on age and aging. In this chapter, the authors reflect on the broader contexts and social trends that are shaping older adults’ engagement with public libraries and identify those older adults-focused public library practices that align with specific UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 4: Quality Education, Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, Goal 10: Reduce Inequalities, and Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. While public libraries are already meeting many facets of UN Sustainable Development Goals, to ensure that libraries can responsively meet older adults’ changing needs and expectations, the authors conclude with suggestions to enhance public libraries’ cross-sector coordination for maximum reach and impact on older patrons’ everyday lives.

This reflective chapter examines recent trends in social work–public library partnerships. The chapter begins by framing interprofessional collaboration between social work and public libraries as a vehicle for the collective impact that can create lasting and sustainable change in communities. Next in the chapter is an overview of the current state of public libraries’ capacity to support individuals in crisis through community partnerships. Next is a description on how interprofessional collaboration can support public libraries in general and the importance of collaboration with social work more specifically. A presentation of the existing models of public library–social work partnerships and their impact on the role of public libraries in their communities follows, with a discussion of the services provided by public libraries, and how partnerships might change the nature of social work practice. Finally, the chapter concludes with a discussion of the barriers and challenges to these partnerships with an eye toward the future of such partnerships and developing their capacity to enhance the health and wellbeing of their patrons, and the safety and resilience of their cities and communities.

This chapter presents a preliminary model that frames public library workers as the foundations of how public libraries help build and support sustainable communities in the twenty-first century, particularly in the United States, specifically in rural America. For public libraries to continue to be key partners in sustaining their communities, and in supporting the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it is essential that public library work be valued, visible, and sustained over time. The UN defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Four studies of public library work during the COVID-19 pandemic found that public library workers are facing challenges in both meeting their own needs and meeting the needs of their communities. That finding led to a consideration of what is needed to place public library work at the center of sustainable thinking. Sustaining library workers will strengthen the library as a community hub, and help those workers in turn sustain community relationships necessary for the work of the library. These, in turn, will contribute to more sustainable communities.

In the digital age, public libraries are facing numerous challenges, and the Balochistan public libraries are no exception. This study aimed to identify current digital trends adopted by the public libraries in Balochistan and to find out about challenges and potential solutions regarding digital trends from library users.

A quantitative study was carried out and data were collected through the survey method, employing a structured questionnaire. The target population consisted of 17,953 users of 17 public libraries in Balochistan. A sample of 510 users both male and female was selected by using random sampling technique from the target population.

The analysis revealed that patrons of public libraries are dissatisfied with the services offered, as they now require access to new digital trends such as fast Internet, download facilities, unlimited content on numerous resources, Wi-Fi, online reference services, universal accessibility and user-friendly interfaces. Unfortunately, public libraries in Balochistan are still lagging in terms of development. The study recommended that public libraries in Balochistan should develop and implement digital services, increase access to digital resources, hire professional librarians, professional development and collaborate with other libraries.

The study’s findings can assist in improving public library services and granting patrons access to current information and resources in Balochisthan and other developing countries. This study’s originality stems from its use of a quantitative survey approach to gather data from 17 public libraries in Balochisthan and provide a comprehensive view of the digital challenges they face. The study’s focus on digital tendencies is relevant in today’s world, where technology is rapidly changing the way, we access and consume information.

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.

While public libraries are well-established as a place to borrow books and use reference materials, they are less recognized for the services and programs they offer to their local communities. These programs and services often directly or indirectly impact the health of patrons and the larger community.

While some public libraries offer programs that address patron health in collaboration with other health professionals, such as those at local universities, public health departments, and other health-related organizations, these collaborations are often informal, offered for an indefinite period of time, and rely on finite funding. While public health professionals and organizations are often overlooked in public library collaborations, they are a natural fit for collaboration.

As public libraries serve the needs of vital and often vulnerable members of our communities, it is important to build sustainable community partnerships when offering programs and services that impact patron health. This will not only identify organizations committed to improving the health of these populations and those that provide reliable resources; it will also streamline information and provide consistent information to identify safe and reliable resources on social media, the internet, and in the community.

This chapter serves as a reflective narrative which explores how public libraries and community organizations can collaborate, identifies anticipated challenges, and describes considerations and strategies for addressing these challenges. The ultimate goal is to identify how libraries can expand the depth and breadth of both library services and public health organizations to sustainably improve the health of the local community.

By examining types of literacies taught by public libraries and the modes through which these programs were offered, this study aims to explore how public libraries might integrate data literacy training for the general public into existing library educational programs.

This study examined programs offered in 30 US public libraries during 2019 and 2020 to better understand types of literacy education announced to the public through library website listings and Facebook Events pages.

While public libraries offered educational programs in literacy areas ranging from basic reading and writing to technology, vocational skills, health literacy and more, data literacy training was not widely offered. However, this study identified many already-existing programs highly compatible for integrating with data literacy training.

This study offered new insights into both the literacies taught in public library programs as well as ways for public libraries to integrate data literacy training into existing educational programming, in order to better provide data literacy education for the general public.

Public libraries are respected local institutions that connect community members to credible information and services, and support lifelong learning. The nature of these libraries means that they are open to all, including individuals who may be experiencing a physical or mental health crisis. A critical way that libraries in the United States are now supporting their communities is by leveraging their assets and their mission to respond to the opioid crisis. These responses have ranged from providing access to information and resources on addiction, prevention, treatment, and recovery support, to training staff and the public to use the drug naloxone to help reverse overdoses. Public libraries have found allies in this work in community organizations including nonprofits and public health departments, and are often working together with these partners toward common goals to bring about collective impact.

Through their programming efforts in response to the opioid crisis, public libraries are also demonstrating the ability to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified by the United Nations (UN) as a call to action for the global community. These goals include ensuring healthy lives, equitable education and lifelong learning, and decent work and economic growth. Public libraries are actively supporting people in their efforts to improve their lives and the lives of those around them. It is important and valuable work, and truly necessary for a functioning society.

Gunungkidul Public Library in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, provides not only reading materials, but also a place to develop the community to produce various products to sell. The librarians in Gunungkidul have been holding various training sessions for the community – from how to make food and beverages to online marketing and preserving and reviving tradition and culture in their community. The librarians train the community to practice making various local products in the library and then the community and the librarians make and sell the products in the library and other places, including online markets. The products they make vary from cassava crackers to herbal medicine and from batik clothes to t-shirts. They also revived traditional choirs that had never been conducted for years. The librarians sometimes also invite experts or any skillful persons to train the community. Within the last two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the training programs were moved to some rural libraries. The librarians hold the training in rural libraries instead of the county library in order to avoid the crowd during the pandemic. Luckily the moving from the county public library to rural libraries has made more people engage in the library activities. The communities are enthusiastic to take part as they do not need to go too far away from their homes and they feel excited to learn and practice making products in the library as they can have more income.

This paper delves into the pivotal role of public libraries in supporting and promoting literacy, with a particular focus on their relevance in financially and infrastructurally low-resourced territories (FILTs). Literacy, being a fundamental skill, empowers individuals, enriches education and contributes to social and economic development. Nonetheless, numerous FILTs encounter substantial obstacles in granting access to quality education and fostering literacy skills among their people. As an opinion piece rooted in empirical literature, this paper serves as an introductory exploration, acknowledging that it only skims the surface of raising awareness.

This paper expands upon the existing body of literature concerning public libraries and the imperative for literacy programs. It purposefully addresses a range of issues that may appear contradictory in FILTs, primarily due to economic constraints. However, from the authors’ perspective, these issues actually highlight the vast potential for intervention and progress.

Numerous evident strategies can be identified to attain the goal of an enlightened and educated nation, fostering empowered individuals. One such approach involves prioritizing the promotion and support of literacy programs in public libraries. Nonetheless, there is a pressing need for heightened awareness regarding the significance of adopting a holistic perspective when addressing various interconnected issues. This includes the long-term advantages associated with an educated and literate society, particularly in FILTs.

The literature within the field of library and information science offers scarce publications regarding literacy support programs in libraries, despite the fact that fostering informed and literate citizens is a prominent goal in the mission and vision plans of numerous FILTs. This paper presents an exploratory perspective, aiming to raise awareness about the significance of considering diverse approaches to support and promote literacy in public libraries within FILTs. It also proposes the development of a framework as a means to facilitate this endeavor. While the context of the paper is framed for FILTs, aspects of the framework may also be useful and applicable in other well-resourced regions and libraries.