Librarian Skillsets in the 21st Century

Abstract

The chapter showcases the 21st century skills that are required by librarians. The digital era brought about a lot of changes in the way that librarians interact with their clients. Due to the changing needs of clients, librarians should ensure that they are well equipped to deliver the needed services. The objectives of the chapter are to identify the skills that librarians should possess in the 21st century, examine how librarians acquire those skills, and discuss the challenges that are faced when acquiring those skills. Structured literature review and web content analysis were used to get the LIS skills. It was discovered that librarians should possess professional, technical, and soft skills in order to remain relevant in the 21st century. The findings revealed that librarians can acquire skills through on the job trainings or formal education. The major challenge that is faced by librarians is the issue of lack of funds to support their capacity building endeavours.