THE FUTUE OF LIBRARIES IN THE MENA REGION TREND, CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Abstract

Libraries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are affected by the repercussions of globalization, especially the "phenomenon of accelerating changes", which has become one of the most prominent features of the twenty-first century. To avoid confusion and loss of control, librarians must face the questions of the future. Depending on the analysis of specialized intellectual production, we aim to define a set of prospective questions: • What are the future roles of librarians and professional associations? • What are the amendments that should be made to the librarian profession to handle new trends? • What is the future of employment in the library sector? • What will the “over smart libraries” look like? • How will the libraries be affected by the equation of the dilemma of a printed book versus an electronic and a “TikTok’s” book? The study also aims to identify the most dominant trends that library and information experts expect and the serious problems that should be prepared for, based on the classification of the Center for the Future of Libraries of the American Library Association (ALA). These challenges are mainly about: • The impact of anticipated crises (epidemics, wars, etc.) on the financial capabilities related to employment and the risk of closing many libraries. • The growing phenomenon of the information explosion and its effects on the mechanisms for retrieving data and documents in libraries • The growing phenomenon of smart cities and the consequent emergence of smart and postsmart libraries. The growing phenomenon of artificial intelligence and the consequent destabilization of the library science identity as a human science discipline (integrating library departments in faculties of computer engineering). Moreover, we are reviewing opportunities that libraries can size to prove their position in the social and economic modern systems: • Libraries and services marketing to attract communities towards the practicing of information awareness as a strategic need required by knowledge economies. • Conducting educational curricula towards adopting libraries as a tool for building selflearning skills. • The use of positive psychology to improve life at workplaces of a library staff. The add-value of the current study is about the scarcity of similar studies related to the MENA region, especially those related to public libraries