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Measuring Library Service Quality of the College Libraries in Pakistan: An Analysis of the
LibQUAL Comments
Khalid Mahmood (PhD)1, Shafiq Ur Rehman (PhD)2, Murtaza Ashiq3
1Khalid Mahmood, PhD
Librarian
Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Educational Development,
Rangeelpur Multan
Email: kmsanghera@gmail.com
2Associate Professor & Head ILRC
Deanship of Library Affairs
Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University
Phone office: +966 1333 32833
Email: suRehman@iau.edu.sa ORCID ID: 0000-0002-8169-0132
3Lecturer, Library and Information Science
Islamabad Model College for Boys, H-9,
Islamabad.
Email: gmurtazaashiq00@gmail.com
Abstract
This study is a part of a large research project and measures the library service quality of the
college libraries of the Punjab, Pakistan. This study is also tried to present an alternative
methodology to analyze comments as part of large questionnaire-based survey. Data has been
consisted of 609 respondent’s qualitative comments. The study identifies the overall poor
infrastructure of the college libraries in Pakistan. Majority of the respondents have given
negative feedback about the current status and the situation of the libraries. It has been noted that
most of the colleges have been established over 50 years ago, but their libraries are still situated
in a single room, poorly managed and having space issues, electricity issues and ventilation
issues (especially in the South Punjab). Moreover, the non-availability of the latest resources,
total absence of ICTs tools and non-cooperative attitude of the staff has been the major concerns
for the library users. The key reason for all these negative remarks is that approximately over
500 vacant posts of the college librarians in Punjab have remained vacant since last decade.
There is an immediate need to fill these vacant posts, increase college library budgets and
improve overall infrastructure of the libraries by the Govt. of the Punjab as well as the Punjab
Higher Education Commission.
Keywords: LibQUAL comments, library service quality, the college libraries, the Punjab,
Pakistan.
Introduction
The quality of a nation’s institutions of higher learning is determined by the character of their
libraries. This character is judged by the users’ opinion about the overall role of the libraries.
The rapidly improving technology and the higher expectations of the users demand
accountability and the assessment of the inputs. It has become the regular feature of the academic
libraries to assess the library service quality from the users’ perspective in the developed world.
It helps them to examine the customer needs, satisfaction, and performance of the library as
viewed by the patrons. In this viable and technological atmosphere, one of the conventional
procedures of measurement of service quality is number calculation (Weiner, 2005), which has
been considered outdated in the existing rival atmosphere (Nitecki, 1996, 182). Weak and strong
areas can be identified by measuring library service quality. Hence, it is evident that “assessing
service quality is the first step in retaining the customers in today’s competitive environment”
(Altman & Hernon, 1998, 53). Users’ views play a key role in developing or improving the level
of quality of the services in the academic libraries (Balasubramanian & Batcha, 2011). The
assessment of library service quality facilitates the library administrators to make plans for the
new rising services in view of the users’ demands and chalk out plan for the distribution of
financial resources wisely. The college libraries are facing a lot of problems: these include
increase in information technology revolution, price of the library material, the use of web
resources for the research and the study purposes, and the provisional budget allocation. In order
to redress these challenges, the college libraries have to cater and fulfill the users’ needs on
priority basis. The library authorities should take steps for improving the users’ services,
establishing contact with the users and providing the services according to the users’
expectations.
Background of the study
This study is the part of a larger doctoral work, in which data has been collected from the largest
province of Pakistan i.e. Punjab. It has a huge network of the publically and privately managed
colleges. Having a library with the decent amount of library material and a professional librarian,
is a pre-requisite in all these colleges.
A hard copy of an updated list of the public sector general education colleges has been
obtained from the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) of the Colleges, the Government of the
Punjab. This list has been used to identify the population of the study according to the
established criteria. According to the available data, there have been 588 public sector general
education colleges, which have been run under the administrative control of the higher education
department, the Government of the Punjab (Government of the Punjab 2013). Out of 588
colleges, there have been 87 postgraduate colleges, which are providing education from the
intermediate to the master’s level or BS-four-year program as equivalent in the Punjab province.
Library service is one of the major indicators for the provision of the quality education in
any institution. A library is an effective one if it provides library services to meet the entire
demands of the users. In the developed countries, all the library services related to library staff,
stock, information technology application, and library physical facilities are mostly available in
the college libraries. But in the developing countries, these services have not been provided
completely at par with the developed countries. In case of Pakistan, these services seem to be
deficient in the libraries of public sector colleges. So, there is a dire need to observe the status of
availability of the library services. Moreover, the college libraries in Pakistan provide services
according to the service provider’s perception rather than the user’s perspective. As a result, the
user’s demands remain unfulfilled most of the times. So, it is the need of the day to measure the
quality of the library services according to the user’s point of view. Previously, very little is
known and reported in the literature about the status and service quality (SQ) of the college
libraries’ situation in the Punjab province, Pakistan. Therefore, this study is formulated to aim at
measuring the service quality in the college libraries of the Punjab, Pakistan focusing at the
user’s perspective specifically.
LibQUAL instrument and comments data
LibQUAL is an internationally recognized, widespread, and standardized tool for the assessment
of library service quality and collection of the users’ feedback (Jackson, 2015; Atkinson, 2017).
There are over twelve hundred libraries, which have carried out survey using LibQUAL
instrument consisting of more than 1.5 million users (Kyrillidou, 2011). Similarly, Association of
Research Libraries (2015, 3) states that “there have been 2,753 institutional surveys, which have
been implemented across 1,343 institutions in over 29 countries, 19 language translations, and
over 2.1 million respondents” . According to Dennis and Bower (2008), there are a few studies
that have investigated the qualitative comments data of the LibQUAL+ instrument. ARL has also
identified that the 42% of the respondents of the overall LibQUAL survey have provided the
comments.
LibQUAL qualitative comments analysis are time consuming (Deltor & Ball 2015),
however, it has added the value in the study and led to identifying the key recommendations and
issues as perceived by the library users. Such values are not possible through quantitative
measurement (Deltor & Ball 2015). Therefore, collecting and analyzing the user’s comments
data are very worthwhile. These comments are useful and valuable to deeply observe the
perception of the library users. In addition to this, it has been observed that the LibQUAL
survey-comments are analyzed purely in the quantitative manner as in (Jones & Kayongo 2008;
Moore, 2017; Vaughn & Turner, 2016), however, this study will introduce an alternative
methodology to analyze a large number of survey comments in the qualitative manner using
Nvivo software (version 12) that includes the data collection, data screening, the selection of the
most relevant software, coding, emerging of relevant themes, and finally presentation of the
result. This study also examines the LibQUAL comments of the respondents that in what ways
the users expect excellent library service quality from the college libraries of Pakistan.
Methodology
Data
The researcher has received 998 filled questionnaires from the college library users of the
Punjab, Pakistan. Out of 998, only 609 respondents have provided comments or suggestions with
a response rate of 61%. In spite of this response, it has been beyond the normal range of the
LIBQUAL respondent’s rate, which usually occurs i.e. 40% (Thompson, Kyrillidou & Cook,
2007). One of the reasons of high response rate is that the researcher has personally administered
the instrument and requested the respondents to provide their views/suggestions at the end. These
609 respondents’ comments are consisting of 1102 references that will be discussed under the
‘coding methodology’ section.
Software selection
NVivo-plus (version 12) has been used for the comments-data analysis. No study has been found
that has used this software for data analysis to the best knowledge of the researchers. Though, a
few studies have used Atlas.ti software for such analysis (Dennis & Bower, 2008), and other
studies have used manual thematic analysis (Moore, 2017; Vaughn & Turner, 2016). However,
the studies like (Dennis & Bower, 2008; Moore, 2017) have presented the comments data in the
quantitative manner like focusing on frequencies, percentage, and other statistical aspects.
Therefore, this study has presented a methodology for the analysis of comments data in a
qualitative way, mentioning other relevant as well as alternative software, screening of data,
coding of comments data, finding and presentation of data.
Coding methodology
All cases having qualitative comments have been separated. These comments have been
carefully read and examined. Total 609 readable and understandable comments have been
identified for the qualitative data analysis. All the comments have been typed in Microsoft word
program. The researcher has created a new project in NVivo12, entitled as ‘LibQUAL
respondent comments’ and imported word file containing all these comments in this project. All
typed comments have been assigned specific nodes (themes) using open coding. Similar
comments have been assigned same nodes. A new idea has been given a new node. Majority of
the users have discussed more than one issue in the comment section. For example, within one
comment, a user has commented on the library staff related concerns in the libraries and then
moved to collection issues. Such comments have been coded separately in each category i.e. staff
concerns and collection issues. At first stage of open coding, 28 main nodes (theme) have been
generated having 1150 references / frequencies. In the next stage, the relevant nodes have been
merged under their parent nodes. Finally, the nodes once again have been examined, merged and
un-coded where necessary. Therefore, the five main nodes have emerged from the data with
1012 references / frequencies.
Findings
Total 609 readable and relevant comments have been found consisting of 1012
references. Five major themes have emerged from the data i.e. (i) Material and access, (ii) ICTs
tool, (iii) Library environment, (iv) Physical infrastructure and (v) Staffing issues respectively. It
has been noted that these themes fall into the three basic categories of LibQUAL instrument
(Table 1). Majority of the respondents’ comments have been negative about library service
quality in the college libraries of the Punjab, Pakistan. Only a meager number of the comments
have been positive, from which the least negative comments have been from the library
environment. The major dismal area that is being totally ignored in the college libraries has been
absence of the ICTs tools.
Table 1: Themes emerged from qualitative data
LibQUAL categories
Theme/parent nodes
Frequency
Positive
Negative
Information Control
ICTs applications
324
---
324
Material and access
356
35
321
Library as Place
Physical infrastructure
99
8
91
Library environment
125
32
93
Affect of Service
Staffing issues
108
26
82
Total
1012
101
911
Availability and Access to Material (Information Control)
This category of comments deals with the absolute and full time provision of the information
technology in the libraries as well as the availability and easy access to print and online collection
(journal, books etc.). These comments have been coded under the two sub themes i.e. information
and communication technology (ICT) application in the libraries, and collection and accessibility
of the material. A total of 680 comments have been received under this theme (Table 2).
Information and communication technology (ICT) applications in the libraries
The library users demonstrate that there are serious concerns regarding ICT application in the
libraries. It is due to very limited availability of the ICT equipment in the college libraries.
Computer and the internet are not provided, considering the requirements and extent of the users
in college libraries of Pakistan. Additionally, college administration provides limited chances to
the library staff for training to use the ICT equipment. As a result, digitization, automation and
website development is not practiced at large in these libraries. So, the users have explained this
issue in detail in their comments. One faculty member (Respondent 502) has commented:
“Computerized system for searching books is not available in the library. The library should be
updated according to the student’s requirements. No book for BS level is available. Computer
and internet facility are also not available here”. A respondent R438 has highlighted that:
“There are many problems in circulation desk or services due to lack of the modern tools. The
internet, e-database, and automatic issue and return facility should be available in the library”.
Most of the respondents including the faculty, the graduate and under graduate students
have suggested in their comments that there should be sufficient provisions of computer and the
internet in their libraries according to the faculty strength and the student’s enrolment in the
colleges. Some library users have suggested for the library automation and the electronic books.
For example, one faculty member R565 has recommended: “Computer, the internet, photocopy
and printing services may be provided in the library”. Similarly, a bachelor’s student (R198) has
required that: the “Internet facility with printing of electronic resources should be provided”. It
has also been endorsed by a female intermediate student R588 that “The internet facility should
also be provided in the library. The latest books or material should also be provided. The
facility of the photocopy and printer must also be provided”. Another respondent R707 has said
that the “Library should have the modern technological tools. The facility of the computerized
issue, return and especially internet facility should also be available”. One respondent R252 has
indicated that day by day the library usage is decreasing due to non-application of the modern
technological tools in the libraries and said, “In this modern era, library usage has decreased.
The main reason is the easy accessibility of information resources”.
Collection and access
Most of the respondents have shown their serious concerns about the library material. They have
complained about the shortage of printed as well as electronic resources. For example, a library
user (R516) has commented: “The library services are not good. The required material is often
unavailable and the available material is not in the good condition”. Similarly, a male faculty
member from the arts and humanities discipline (R202) has remarked on the: “absence of
sufficient reference material in library”. A master’s student (R620) has pointed out: “There is no
electronic material available in the library”. Some library users have not been pleased with the
provision of information regarding new arrival of the books. A master’s student (R825) has
demanded: “The information regarding new arrivals and existed material should be available on
library website”. Library users have also been anxious about the arrangement of the library
material and the closed shelf system. A faculty member (R201) states that the: “Arrangement of
library material and its easy access should be confirmed”. One library user (R426) has
commented: “The shelves should not be locked so that the users can get their material without
facing any problems”. One female student (R689) has protested: “the Library staff must know
their duties. They don’t value the reader’s suggestions for purchasing new books, DVDs and
other material. The library website doesn’t enable us to locate information on our own”. Most of
the library users have complained about the issuance of insufficient quantity of the books.
Writing assignments is a compulsory requisition for the post graduate students to complete their
academic degree especially in the semester system. For this purpose, they need more books from
the library. Close examination of the comments reveals that these students are not pleased with
the circulation system, especially with the quantity of the books issued in the library under the
specified rules. For example, a post graduate student (R514) has reported: “The general
knowledge books should be made available and books may be issued to the students for the
assignments”. Another master’s student (R88) has showed her concern that: “only two books are
issued at a time in our library”. One pure science male student (R225) has reported: “Two books
do not fulfill the need of the students. The students should have the facility to get more books”.
Some students have showed their concern about the issuance of a book for a very short period.
Moreover, costly books are not issued to the students in the college libraries. For example, one
student (R515) has stated that the: “Important and costly books are not issued from the library.
Issuing period of book is not sufficient. There is a shortage of rare and important books. The
system should be made better”.
However, some respondents (n=19) have showed their satisfaction with the collection and
accessibility to the reading and referencing material. A student (R395) is found satisfied with the
library material by saying that: “There is a large material e.g. novels, magazines and other that
can help us”. Similarly, a master’s student (R528) has stated: “Our library is very good; it has
all books according to our requirement”. Another master student (R527) has also confirmed:
“Sufficient books are available in the library”. A student (R557) belonging to languages has
verified: “Library is equipped with our required material”. Similarly, a bachelor’s student
(R752) of languages has endorsed: “Library is well organized, and the staff is cooperative”.
However, one female intermediate student (R383) has reported: “The material on our subject is
less and sufficient material is available on other subjects”.
Library users have suggested that there should be availability of more printed books and
the journals, improvement in circulation system, availability of open shelf system, availability of
reference services, current awareness service (CAS) and the library instructions etc. For
example, a male faculty member (R602) of languages discipline has proposed: “Library books
must be updated. There should be a lot of latest books on different topics”. One master’s female
student (R669) has highlighted the necessity of open shelf system: “Cabinet should not be
locked”. Another user (R434) has suggested: “Circulation and referencing services should be
improved”. A female bachelor student (R200) has emphasized on the current awareness program
as: “new library material should be introduced to help users to use library more effectively”.
Table 2: Availability and Access to Material and ICT Equipment
Category
Parent nodes
Child Nodes
Frequency
Information
Control
ICT application
Need for computer and the internet
Need for photocopy and printing facilities
Need for alternative power supply
Need for digitization, automation and library
website
206
54
42
22
Material and
Access
Need for book material
Open shelf system (need and availability)
Need for proper circulation
Library instruction/orientation (need and
availability)
Sufficient book material available
Need for newspaper/journals
Need for electronic material
Insufficient quantity of books issued
Need for ILL, CAS, and Reference Service
Need for book bank
Technical Processing (need and availability)
Need to enhance library budget
142
53
47
24
16
13
11
12
13
08
12
05
Total
680
Physical infrastructure and the environment (Library as a place)
This theme deals with the physical environment and the infrastructure like the building, the
furniture, the lighting, the heating and the cooling arrangements etc. in the college libraries.
Several respondents (n=224) have commented on this theme. Out of 224 comments, 99 has been
related to the library infrastructure (building and space etc.), and 125 has been related to the
library environment (table 3).
Library physical infrastructure
The library users are much concerned with the present library infrastructure. Most of the library
users have shown their concerns regarding library building as well as space, uncomfortable
furniture, need for drinking water, separate study areas for the girls, and the washroom facility
adjacent to the library respectively. One of the faculty member, R653, has complained; “Library
building, staff, services are incomplete according to the status of post graduate college”. A
master’s student R593 has viewed: “The library has not community space for the group learning
and the group study”. Another user, R816, has stated: “sufficient space is not available in the
library for sitting”. A library user R541 is not pleased with the library furniture and said,“ library
should have good furniture as well as new books ”. Another user R712 has complained that
“There is lack of furniture. There is no quiet study room and the books are less”. A bachelor’s
student (R789) has realized: “The furniture of the library is in a poor condition and there are a
lot of noises while sitting and leaving the chairs and tables”. Another user, R547, has said,
“There should be proper ventilation and air conditioned system”. Some users (R413, R414,
R415, R418, R420 etc.) have similar viewpoint, for example, that: “The cooling and heating
facility is needed. In case of load shedding, the facility of the generator should be maintained. A
vast and comfortable reading room must be available. Drinking water facility is also required”.
Some female respondents have shown their reservations about the joint study room and
suggested separate study rooms as R873 has said, “There is no separate sitting place in the
library for the girls. It should be arranged”. Similarly, R998 has stated, “there should be proper
sitting plan for the girls so that they can take benefit from the library facility equally”. Some
female respondents have observed that the male library users create noise and disturbance, as
R814 has noticed, “The boys make noise, so, there should be a separate study area for the
females”. R586 has suggested and stated, “There should be availability of cafeteria in the
premises of the library”. One user (R931) has highlighted the importance of drinking water in the
library: “Pure drinking water is not available for the users and such a caring staff”.
Table 3: Library as a place of learning environment and infrastructure
Category
Parent Nodes
Child Nodes
Frequency
Library as
Place
Physical
infrastructure of
library
Need for building, space etc.
35
Need for furniture
18
Need for drinking water
18
Separate study room (Girls)
15
Sufficient space available
08
Need for Toilet/Washroom
05
Library environment
Need for airy, cooling, heating and
proper lighting environment
93
Conducive environment available
32
Total
224
Library environment
A comfortable and peaceful library environment attracts the library users. Majority of the library
users have been unsatisfied with the current available library environment including ventilation,
heating, cooling and lighting in the library. R931 andR932 have demanded comfortable
environment in the library and said, “The library environment must be friendly, attractive and
comfortable”. R87 has said, “Most of the lights in the library are out of order and rests of the
tubes have very dim lights”. R790 has given a very starring viewpoint by stating that, “Our
College has a big library, but we have no permission even to enter in the library, that’s why
library is very neat and clean”.
However, some of the respondents have been pleased with the conducive environment
(n=32) of the library. Two intermediate students (R598, R600) are extremely satisfied with the
environment. They pointed out that: “our college library has good environment, quiet space, and
it is a gateway for our learning and reading”. A female intermediate student (R596) of the social
science is partially satisfied with the library environment, as she commented that: “The library’s
environment is good”. A female master’s student (R514) and two male intermediate students of
the pure science (R936, R938) have noted that: “Library is a comfortable and calm place for
study”.
Staffing issues (Affect of service)
Staffing issues is the fifth major theme that has emerged from the data. It is further divided into
staff availability and dutifulness and staff behavior (table 4).
Table 4: staffing issues in college libraries
Category
Parent Nodes
Child Nodes
Frequency
Affect of Service
Staffing issues
Lack of library staff
29
Absence from duty
07
Staff behavior
Needs improvement in staff
behavior
behavior
46
Positive staff behavior
available
26
Total
108
Behavior of the staff
Courteous behavior is an important factor that positively affects the library services. A male
master’s student (R904) has praised the library staff: “The library services and library staff are
good. They can solve the problems of the students, so library is a good place for study”. Another
bachelor’s student of pure science (R826) has admired, “The staff of the library is really very
good. They provide the users with material according to their needs”. Despite some favorable
comments from the library users regarding the staff behavior, most of the respondents have
showed their concern about the behavior and rude attitude of the library staff regarding services,
helpfulness and guidance. One female student R517 has remarked, “The behavior of the library
staff is not exemplary. The staff hesitates to issue books”. Politeness is a factor that attracts the
library users, as one student (R244) wants: “Library staff must be polite and calm”. One student
(R 688) says that “Library staff should be polite and show positive and helping attitude”. One
faculty member (R610) has commented, “The staff should be helpful and provide library
education and techniques to the users to use the library. One male student (R240) has suggested,
“Staff behavior should be better and they should know how to behave professionally”. Similarly,
another participant, R982, has suggested and said, “Give the special training to the library staff
on how to interact with the users professionally”.
Staff availability and dutifulness
Library users have been much concerned with the lack of the library staff in their libraries. Some
of them have complained about the absence of the library staff from the duty during working
hours. One student R213 has stated, “Library attendant does not come daily. Some important
books are not available”. It is further endorsed by another library user, R690, that “The staff of
library should be dutiful and kind to the readers”. A male intermediate student (R940) from the
arts /humanities has demanded that “Library system is not very good in our college. All staff
members of the library must pay attention on such issues to promote the reading habits of
students”. The users have reported many suggestions regarding library staff’s availability,
training, attitude etc. for example, one user, R507, has suggested: “First of all, the attention
should be given to the library staff to train them, so that the services of the library can be
provided properly”. A library cannot render proper and immediate services due to the shortage of
the library staff. In view of this context, majority of the library users have demanded more staff
for better working of the library. One user, R441, has suggested: “The staff should be increased
so that the issue and return of the books can be managed effectively”. A social science’s master’s
student (R628) has required, “Educated and responsible staff ought to be recruited”. One
respondent (R657) recommends: “There is need of technical staff and departmental library in the
college”.
The users’ comments have demonstrated that some of the users have been pleased with
the availability, helpfulness and dealing of the library staff with the library users in rendering
library services.
Discussion
The qualitative comments reveal that the college libraries of Pakistan are not meeting the
desired expectations and the informational needs of their users. Majority of the respondents has
given negative remarks about library service quality in the college libraries of the Punjab,
Pakistan. Information and communication technological tools are completely missing in the
college libraries. Most of the libraries do not have computer, internet, photocopier and printing
facilities. The library collections is further outdated. The key reasons of this complete failure
have been the non-availability of the professional librarians as well as the staff and meager
amount of the library budget. The failure of excellent library service quality has been the result
of absence of the professional library staff. A hard copy of an updated list of public sector
general education colleges has been obtained from the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI)
Colleges, Government of the Punjab. According to the list, there are 588 public sectors general
education colleges, which are being run under the administrative control of the higher education
department, the Government of the Punjab (Government of the Punjab, 2013). It is very painful
that out of 588 colleges, there are only 42 colleges, in which professional college librarians are
working (Government of the Punjab, 2014). The situation has not improved, yet after more than
five years, there are only a few cosmetic changes like the Government of the Punjab has
approved the case submitted by the Punjab College Library Association (PCLA) for reforming
the service structure from BS-17 to BS-20, after 10 years of its submission. The college
librarians are pleased to enjoy their promotions with the implementation of this service structure.
However, a great number of posts of the librarians are still lying vacant in the college libraries in
the Punjab province. This neglected area needs special attention of the concerned authority to fill
the vacant seats. That’s why most of the libraries are operating by the para-professional and the
non-professional staff. Some libraries often remain closed due to this non-professional approach
(Shafi, 2002; Asghar & Shafique, 2012). During data collection, it has been found that the
college libraries have very meager amount of library budget, from which most of the times,
books and relevant materials, are not purchased. Some respondents have said that even this
meager amount is sometime used for other purposes, instead of utilization it on the development
of the college library as well as its services. In spite of this poor financial condition and absence
of professional library staff, the government has recently allowed BS four years programs and
other post-graduate programs in the colleges. This unplanned approach shows the dismal
situation of education in Pakistan.
Some users are satisfied with the library environment to some extent. However, they have
demanded purpose-built library buildings with alternative power supply in case of load shedding.
Library users want comfortable and peaceful space for study with easy and attractive furniture.
The government needs to immediately look into these serious issues in the college libraries and
fill the vacant posts along with increased library budget.
Conclusion
The area of information control needs special attention. Information and communication
technology is scarcely found in the college libraries of Pakistan. The users demand adequate
computer, the internet and other technology equipment. They also want library to have website,
automation of libraries and access to electronic resources. It has been observed that most of the
colleges have been established over 50 years ago, but their libraries are still situated in a single
room, poorly managed, having space issues, electricity issues, ventilation issues, and shortage of
cooling and heating facilities, (especially in south Punjab). There are over 500 vacant posts of
the college librarians for almost a decade, which not been duly filled. This dismal situation
urgently urges to recruit the young professional librarians and fill all the vacant posts of the
college librarians. In addition, the budget and space (physical) of the college libraries should
greatly be increased, so that they can purchase sufficient as well as latest resources. These two
steps greatly increase the productivity and library service quality of the college libraries. Most of
the colleges have started BS-four years and other degree as well as postgraduate programs.
Besides, Higher education Commission (HEC) has also sanctioned the access of its subscribed
world renowned e-databases. This would be an opportunity for the young professionals to show
their dynamics and improve the overall image of library service quality in the college libraries of
Pakistan.
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