The Role of Rural Public Libraries in Empowering Farmers

Objective: The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of rural public libraries in empowering farmers from librarians’ viewpoints. Method: This is an applied research that was conducted with a qualitative approach using thematic analysis method. The research population included the librarians of rural public libraries under the General Directorate of Public Libraries of South Khorasan, Iran. In this research, non-probability (non-random) sampling and snowball sampling were used and a total of 17 librarians were interviewed. Findings: Public library role-playing in empowering farmers was grouped into two categories: information (educational-consultative and promotional) and service (book delivery and assistance). The findings indicated that the programs of rural public libraries in this field were more of the "educational-consultative" type, among which agricultural workshops were more numerous. Obstacles to using public libraries to empower this group were also categorized into two structural (library and agricultural) and individual (demographic and cultural) categories, and library-related obstacles were more frequent than other obstacles. Regarding the obstacles related to agriculture, the interviewees mentioned more about "lack of belief in modern agriculture". In the sub-category of demographic obstacles, illiteracy or low level of literacy of farmers and their old ages were also mentioned. Conclusion: The libraries should do the necessary planning to play a role in empowering farmers. Of course, there are basic obstacles in this field that require serious attention from public libraries. In order to realize this issue, it is necessary to have proper interactions between rural public libraries and custodian institutions in this field.