The Role of Rural Public Libraries in Empowering Farmers

Narmenji, Seyyed Mahdi The Role of Rural Public Libraries in Empowering Farmers. Research on Information Science and Public Libraries, 2024, vol. 30, n. 4, pp. 432-448. [Journal article (Paginated)]

[thumbnail of The Role of Rural Public Librarie.pdf]
Preview
 Text
The Role of Rural Public Librarie.pdf - Published version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.
Download (1MB) | Preview

English abstract

Objective: The purpose of this research is to investigate the role of rural public libraries in empowering farmersfrom librarians viewpoints.Method: This is an applied research that was conducted with a qualitative approach using thematic analysismethod. The research population included the librarians of rural public libraries under the General Directorate of Pub-lic Libraries of South Khorasan, Iran. In this research, non-probability (non-random) sampling and snowball samplingwere used and a total of 17 librarians were interviewed.Findings: Public library role-playing in empowering farmers was grouped into two categories: information (ed-ucational-consultative and promotional) and service (book delivery and assistance). The findings indicated that theprograms of rural public libraries in this field were more of the educational-consultative type, among which agricul-tural workshops were more numerous. Obstacles to using public libraries to empower this group were also categorizedinto two structural (library and agricultural) and individual (demographic and cultural) categories, and library-relatedobstacles were more frequent than other obstacles. Regarding the obstacles related to agriculture, the intervieweesmentioned more about lack of belief in modern agriculture. In the sub-category of demographic obstacles, illiteracyor 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, thereare basic obstacles in this field that require serious attention from public libraries. In order to realize this issue, it isnecessary to have proper interactions between rural public libraries and custodian institutions in this field.

Persian abstract

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Public Libraries,Farmers,empowerment
Subjects: D. Libraries as physical collections. > DC. Public libraries.
Depositing user: rispl journal Journal
Date deposited: 30 Jan 2026 17:55
Last modified: 30 Jan 2026 17:55
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/47501

References

10. Abu, R., Grace, M., & Carroll, M. (2011). The Role of the Rural Public Library in Community Development and Empowerment. International Journal of the Book, 8 (2), 63-74. [DOI:10.18848/1447-9516/CGP/v08i02/36863]

11. Aina, L. O. (2006). Information Provision to Farmers in Africa: The Library Extension Service Linkage. 72nd IFLA General Conference and Council, Korea. Retrieved June 20, 2023, from http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/index.htm

12. Belwal, M.C. (2021). Role of Public Library on Women Empowerment in Dehradun District. Global Journal of Current Research, 8 (1), 1-8.

13. Chen, Z., Liu, C., & Yang, D. (2011). Information Poverty and Farmers' Information Right in China's Mountainous Rural Areas. Procedia Engineering, 15, 1277-1281. [DOI:10.1016/j.proeng.2011.08.236]

14. Hashemi, S. M., Hosseini, S. M., & Damalas, C. A. (2009). Farmers' competence and training needs on pest management practices: Participation in extension workshops. Crop Protection, 28(11), 934-939. [DOI:10.1016/j.cropro.2009.07.007]

15. Idiegbeyan-Ose, J., Owolabi, A., Segun-Adeniran, C., Aregbesola, A., Emmanuel Owolabi, S., & Eyiolorunshe, T. (2019). Information Provision by Public Library to Agricultural Extension Agents in a Developing Country. Public Library Quarterly, 38(1), 103-115. [DOI:10.1080/01616846.2018.1555412]

16. Lal-Jawahar, L. (2018). The Role of Public Libraries in Socio-Cultural Development in Rural Areas in India. Library Progress, 38 (2), 299-313. [DOI:10.5958/2320-317X.2018.00032.6]

17. Mabuie, M., Siueia Júnior, M., Jaime, A., & Monjane Mabuie, A. (2020). Information-seeking behavior: A case study on farmers in Maputo City, Mozambique. Technium Social Sciences Journal, 14, 680-687. [DOI:10.47577/tssj.v14i1.2085]

18. Mubofu, C., & Mambo, H. (2021). The Role of Libraries in Community Empowerment: A Systematic Review. Indonesian Journal of Librarianship, 2(1), 1-16. [DOI:10.33701/ijolib.v2i1.1492]

19. Nikam, V., Ashok, A., & Pal, S. (2022). Farmers' information needs, access and its impact: Evidence from different cotton producing regions in the Maharashtra state of India. Agricultural Systems, 196, 103317. [DOI:10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103317]

20. Rahman, T., Ara, S., & Khan, N. A. (2020). Agro-information Service and Information-seeking Behavior of Small-scale Farmers in Rural Bangladesh. Asia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development, 30(1-2), 175-194. [DOI:10.1177/1018529120977259]

21. Seenuankaew, U., & Vongprasert, C. (2015). Information behaviors in value adding of farmers' production and marketing in Thailand. New Library World, 116(3/4), 227-242. [DOI:10.1108/NLW-07-2014-0089]

22. Seenuankaew, U., Rattichot, J., & Leenaraj, B. (2018). Farmers' information behaviors that facilitate the strengthening of their management capacity from passive to active community enterprises. Information and Learning Science, 119(5/6), 260-274. [DOI:10.1108/ILS-07-2017-0070]

23. Tumbo, S., Mwalukasa, N., Fue, K., Mlozi, P., Haug, R., & Sanga, C. (2018). Exploring Information Seeking Behavior of Farmers' in Information Related to Climate Change Adaptation Through ICT (CHAI). International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(3), 299-319. [DOI:10.19173/irrodl.v19i3.3229]

24. Verma, A. K., Meena, H. R., Singh, Y. P., Chander, M., & Narayan, R. (2012). Information Seeking and Sharing Behaviour of the Farmers: A Case Study of Uttar Pradesh State, India. Journal of Recent Advances in Agriculture, 1 (2), 50-55.

25. Wu, L. (2012). An Empirical Research on Poor Rural Agricultural Information Technology Services to Adopt. Procedia Engineering, 29, 1578-1583. [DOI:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.01.176]


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
Contact us
Send email Sponsors
Sponsor: AIMS Sponsor: D&P Sponsor: UniNa CAB Get connected
Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Linkedin LinkedIn RSS RSS