Issues and Perspectives of Public Libraries in Pakistan: A Review

Abstract Public libraries (PLs) aim to meet the information needs of their local communities and play a vital role in the development of a nation. Comprehensive published literature is available on PLs in Pakistan and could explore the challenges encountered by these PLs in the country through literature review. Thus, to fill this gap in existing literature, a review of literature was conducted to explore the status, issues, and perspectives of the PLs in Pakistan since its partition in 1947. The researchers reviewed library and information science (LIS) literature published on the subject topics. Various electronic data sources were searched such as Taylor and Francis, Emerald Insight, EBSCOhost, Science Direct, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA), Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA), and Google Scholar. Similarly, the profiles of prominent Pakistani LIS scholars were also consulted for the said purpose. A search string was formulated to get precise results with some limitations on extracting required data. Peer-reviewed studies published from 1947 to 2021 in the English language were included in present study, which extracted 74 citations. After deleting duplicates from titles and abstracts, a full-text assessment was done. Finally, 27 studies were included, which matched the search criteria and explored various issues of the PLs in Pakistan. The findings of this study reveal that PLs in Pakistan are facing several challenges such as nonexistence of appropriate planning, absence of library legislation, lack of ICT application in libraries, absence of policy regarding public relations and publicity (PRP) of library resources and services. Other issues are lack of proper service structure for LIS professionals, as a deficiency in providing proper LIS continuing education and training opportunities to LIS professionals, insufficient human resources, the bureaucratic administrative structure of public libraries, shortage of sufficient funds and financial independence. The highlighted issues and challenges may serve as a guide for public library policy and decision-makers in reforming their present policies, or in articulating a modern public library system in Pakistan. This study suggests several recommendations which would help the competent authorities and policymakers to transform the PLs in Pakistan from neglected to indispensable community learning and information resource centers. This is a first study of its kind in Pakistan, and it is hoped that the findings will serve as a springboard for future research in the LIS field and contribute to the literature on the PLs in Pakistan.