Public libraries and crisis management: Iranian public libraries and the dust crisis

Abstract

Dust crisis is one of the most important environmental problems caused by climate change and drought during the last three decades in some parts of Iran, especially in its eastern and western borders. The present study is a qualitative semi-structured interview study of 11 managers and employees of public libraries in the Iranian provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah. In the article, we document that public libraries can take major steps to better manage community needs arising from disasters and emergencies. The findings show that public libraries can take on educational, cultural, executive, and informative roles in the pre-crisis stage, executive and informative roles in the during-crisis stage, and executive and documentation roles in the post-crisis stage. Based on the results, a conceptual model is constructed, showing the role of Iranian public libraries in dealing with the dust crisis as a rotational process. In order to improve the role of public libraries in society, it is necessary that library managers and employees take appropriate measures in the three stages of pre-crisis, during-crisis, and post-crisis.