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Studies the libraries in the Nigerian rural set‐up. Personal observations and surveys as well as documentary literature were used in the study to acquire state‐of‐the‐art information. The peculiar nature of library branches in the different states of Nigeria made the study cover the country as a case study. The rural libraries′ efforts in their various roles have been discovered to have complementary efforts from such organizations as: MAMSER and DFRRI. Better co‐ordination of rural service by any organization can best be done through RDUIs. Gives various recommendations on how better library and information service could be given to the ruralites.

The links between expenditure and service provision on rural public libraries in Scotland are analysed, and patterns of provision between authorities noted. Conclusions are drawn concerning the adequacy of provision in these areas, the effects of the new community charge and patterns of public library provision.

Among the many pressing questions of the day that of the establishment of village libraries is most important, for it affects widely the future intellectual life of the rural population. Moreover the moment has undoubtedly arrived when it must be dealt with in a wide and generous spirit, so that all who may be concerned in such a movement—and who is not?—may pull together in inaugurating a system which in coming years may prove not only practical and beneficial, but which may be established on sound and enduring lines, lines which do not run counter to existing organisations, but which gather into one harmonious whole the best traditions and the finest experiences of all those who in the past have fostered the reading habit and dealt with the practical side of the selection, conservation and distribution of books.

The purpose of this work is to ascertain the information needs of the people of rural Nigeria, to identify the type of information channels available to them and to suggest ways of improving the provisions of information services to the inhabitants of rural communities.

The study adopted the descriptive survey research method with the questionnaire as the major instrument. Interviews and observation were also employed. The simple percentage method is used to present and analyse data with appropriate tables.

The empirical findings of the research are as follows: about 80 per cent of Nigerians live in rural areas and are predominantly poor farmers and fishermen, of whom about 90 per cent are illiterate in the Western sense. They lack basic information infrastructures such as internet, libraries and information centres, and electricity. The oral tradition is still prevalent and written communication remains elusive because a majority of the populace is still illiterate. Rural dwellers show positive response to the services of information agents such as agricultural extension workers, rural health workers, etc.

The study covers Bayelsa State which represents the Niger Delta region. Further study is needed on information policy in Nigeria as a whole.

Electronic media like radio and television are seen as sources of entertainment and often regarded as propaganda materials. Computers, libraries, and information centres are completely absent. The traditional library is not suitable for rural dwellers. Apart from printed materials, which are the stock‐in‐trade of orthodox libraries, rural libraries must include in their stock visual and audio materials.

The majority of rural dwellers in Nigeria do not have access to new information technology and are thus cut off from the global world. This work creates a greater awareness of the vacuum that exists in the rural areas concerning information communication technologies and will stimulate further discussion.

The purpose of this article is to determine the types of collaborative activities public youth services and school librarians in rural locations engage in and to ascertain whether there are methods that youth service librarians believe can be employed to improve collaborative activities with public school librarians.

A mixed method design was implemented with an online self-administered survey. The survey contained open and closed-ended questions.

The findings indicate that many public librarians serving youth in rural locations find it important to collaborate with school librarians. Yet, they struggle to build strong collaborative relationships. Factors such as time, a lack of school librarian administrative support, and a lack of understanding about the roles of school librarians and public librarians, are collaborative barriers.

The study was limited to a purposive sample of 80 public librarians serving youth in rural areas in the United States.

Librarianship training programs can help school librarians and youth services librarians learn how to form collaborative partnerships through mentorship programs, requiring pre-service school and youth services librarians to collaborate on projects, and educating them about the similarities in their goals. School and public librarians can also benefit from training to teach them how to build community partnerships.

The results provide evidence that public librarians serving youth in rural areas favor building stronger collaborative relationships with school librarians. Building these relationships can improve the quality of education for youth in these locations. This article also includes proposed strategies for improving these relationships.

How rural libraries influence their communities’ development is shown in a number of studies, and many of those rural libraries have focused on their roles in increasing the accessibility of technology for their local community. However, few focused on how rural libraries are immersed in their surrounding natural environment to empower the community members’ learning about and with nature. Also, there have been rare examples of rural libraries that support not only their local community but also another country’s sustainable development. The Baramsup Picturebook Library, located in a rural area in South Korea, is an exemplary case because it has provided a large range of programming and services for diverse groups of people (i.e., from children to older adults) from diverse levels of communities – from the local communities around the library to the global communities of a developing country, Laos. Through qualitative content analysis of an interview with the library’s director as well as their official blog and articles and reports from magazines, this chapter presents a case study of this library. The library’s services and programs are demonstrated under three themes: (1) rural, local communities: cultivating the book culture; (2) local and regional communities: empowering children’s ecological sensitivity; (3) with global communities: building school libraries for children in Laos. This case study of the Baramsup Picturebook Library provides conceptual and practical insights into how rural and small libraries initiate changes in people and communities, thereby impacting sustainable social changes in larger communities.

This chapter discusses some of the challenges faced by tribal libraries. Considering the information provided throughout the rest of this volume, it is clear that some of the core issues—such as poor broadband availability, difficulties in achieving economies of scale, and barriers to collaboration—are shared between tribal institutions and rural libraries throughout the United States.

The chapter presents a brief review of the literature on tribal libraries, establishing how they compare with rural public libraries in the United States. The remainder of the chapter is designed as a conversation piece, with responses from interviews with librarians from two tribal libraries detailing how the challenges faced by these outlets parallel those faced by America’s rural libraries.

• Tribal libraries face obstacles that are common among nontribal rural public libraries, such as poor broadband Internet availability, lack of funding, and geographic barriers that limit patron access.

• Although public libraries exist in some tribal communities, other forms of libraries and cultural heritage institutions often fill the service roles that public libraries occupy in nontribal communities.

• Public-oriented information institutions in tribal communities commonly preserve and promote tribal heritage, often as one of their primary purposes. Considering that this is often achieved on limited budgets, further documentation of these efforts could be useful for guiding nontribal rural public libraries that wish to do more to preserve and promote their local cultural heritage.

Tribal libraries face obstacles that are common among nontribal rural public libraries, such as poor broadband Internet availability, lack of funding, and geographic barriers that limit patron access.

Although public libraries exist in some tribal communities, other forms of libraries and cultural heritage institutions often fill the service roles that public libraries occupy in nontribal communities.

Public-oriented information institutions in tribal communities commonly preserve and promote tribal heritage, often as one of their primary purposes. Considering that this is often achieved on limited budgets, further documentation of these efforts could be useful for guiding nontribal rural public libraries that wish to do more to preserve and promote their local cultural heritage.

This study creates bridges between rural public libraries in the United States and tribal libraries, which are commonly studied as two separate phenomena. Although the authors document how these types of institutions differ from each other in significant ways, barriers of broadband access, geographic isolation, and lack of funding are common across both rural and tribal libraries. The information provided in this chapter shows that both types of institutions need solutions for similar problems.

This study aims to determine the requirements and find out the challenges for the use of digital library services for rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality, Limpopo province. The research questions of the study are: What are the requirements for the use of digital library services in rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality? What are the challenges of accessing digital library services in rural areas?

Data was analysed thematically and deductively in this study, as researcher required to accomplish the purpose of the study through consistent structure (Zalaghi and Khazaei, 2016). In deductive analysis, the researcher starts with a set of categories, which are then used to categorize and organize data (Bertram and Christiansen, 2020). The researcher got familiar with data from the interviewing process and when transcribing data from audio tape. The transcription process was done for the coding purposes. Coding allows the researcher to simplify and focus on specific characteristics of data.

The study findings advocate for the establishment of digital libraries in rural areas. The library authorities are challenged to adapt digital ways of information provision. Since librarians have been providing digital content in libraries for use on users’ laptops and other gadgets, this implies that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has been lagging behind in finding innovative ways to provide information, especially in rural areas. To successfully keep libraries as sources of information, transformative measures have to be taken, and where possible, revisit the policies and keep drifting with the societal changes. The library authorities have to delve into new ways of providing LIS to the communities. Unquestionably, information and communication technologies have penetrated our societies and became a way of life. In addition, there are unlimited benefits which can be derived from digital technologies, especially given the lack of physical libraries in rural areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the academic research is original and has not been published anywhere before.

Discusses alternative methods of providing a public library service to one‐house stop clients of south Lincolnshire’s mobile libraries. A literature review revealed a lack of up‐to‐date cost information for alternative methods of service provision. Four methods were selected for further investigation: books by mail; village shop libraries; extending the housebound service; and transporting clients to the library. Annual cost and cost per issue were calculated and compared to the cost of the mobile library. Staff and users were also surveyed for their opinions of the current service and the alternative methods proposed. The results of the costing exercises showed that transporting users to the library was the most cost effective method but this was not popular with the current users of the service. Services considering replacing the one‐house stop mobile service will also need to consider issues including social inclusion, best value and the public library standards.

Describes the results of a Scottish Library and Information Council‐funded project into the business information needs of companies in the rural areas of the north‐east of Scotland. Based on a survey by questionnaire, interviews and case studies, describes the information providers available to rural businesses, the pattern of present use of such agencies by companies, the nature of respondents’ information needs, problems in accessing information and attitudes to IT. Highlights as significant to businesses particular types of information, some of which are felt to require the support of expert advice. The use of existing agencies suggests that many companies are poorly informed as to which agencies to approach and that these are less likely to approach libraries than “business” organizations, i.e. those providers which are seen as being more dedicated to the interests of the business community. Finds that business information provision is a dynamic and constantly shifting environment, in terms of the appearance and demise of information providers; and suggests there are lessons to be learned from the experience of the traditional and long‐established services.