Mapping the Status of Public Libraries of Asian Countries in Context of the Aims of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: An Analysis of IFLAs Library Map of the World

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the status of Public Libraries in Asian Countries as per the data available on IFLA’s Library Map of the World. The study aims to identify the key features on which IFLA is focusing to collect data regarding the goals of Sustainable Development Goals. The study also aims to identify and highlight the level of participation of the Asian countries enumerating the performance of the countries according to the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) rankings. Methodology: The study is based on the data available on the portal of IFLA’s Library Map of the World. The data is harvested from the ‘comma separated values’ file available on the portal. Asian countries are selected for the study in order to map the status of the public libraries. However, other type of library’s data is available but they are excluded as per the scope of the study. Findings: The study shows that the performance of public libraries of higher Human Development Index (HDI) rankings among Asian countries is much higher than the countries with least HDI. Countries of higher rank of HDI have huge number of users and services offered by them are much utilized compared to the lower ranked Asian nations. India, having the largest number of public libraries, somehow does not have good numbers in other categories. Social Implication: The aim of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to include every sector of the society; hence the theme of this paper is focused to highlight the importance of public libraries which work for the betterment of the society. As IFLA has adopted all the 17 goals of Sustainable Development Goals by UN, its implementation in public libraries is of utmost importance. Originality: This is one-of-a-kind study to promote the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals by IFLA which are recommended by UN. The study will provide a new vision to all the Asian countries participating to achieve the goal of IFLA in order to make their libraries better.

Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals, IFLA, United Nations, Public Libraries, Library Map of the World

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