The Perspective of Library Management in Bhutan: Roles, Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Across all libraries in Bhutan, the development of infrastructures, collections, and professional capacity has been partially neglected resulting in a lack of well-provisioned and responsive services. The advent of modern libraries in Bhutan is relatively new, thus limiting its contribution to achieving the goals of respective parent organizations, in turn, the national goals.

This study examined the roles of Bhutanese libraries and librarians, library collaboration mechanisms, challenges and opportunities. Convenience sampling was adopted for this study, and we used a structured online survey questionnaire for data collection from 180 librarians across the country. The results revealed that the main roles of libraries were providing access to information and services, managing resources and supporting learning. Collection developments have evolved from a few scripture collections to scholarly journals and e-resources. Bhutanese library management systems advanced from basic arrangements to card catalogs to Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). Currently, libraries are transitioning toward web-based integrated library systems using Koha, particularly in academic libraries. Most of the libraries are operated by Library Assistants without prior training or library-related academic qualifications. Administrative assistant, housemaster and examination committee member roles were assigned as ancillary roles for librarians. As a result, for some, the main library role became obsolete. Inter-library collaborations are limited, and professional experiences and best practices are rarely shared. Lack of professional development and funding are the key challenges. This study also demonstrated the need for a national strategic library development plan that prioritizes investment in ICT-based infrastructure, services, and digital resources for netizens.

Keywords:

• Bhutan
• information
• librarians
• libraries
• management
• resources
• services

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

No funding agency or details to declare

Table 1. Statistic of librarians in Bhutan.