Research on the public libraries’ experiences facing COVID-19 pandemic

Although virtual services have been developed in libraries, they are still considered as third places as they provide facilities for community meetings and programs. The COVID-19 pandemic caused closure, delay and change in library services around the world. The news and statistics confirm that the total working hours of public libraries per week decreased compared to the pre-COVID-19 years; The number of in-person visits to these centers dropped; and the number of resources checked out declined. However, the pandemic caused a greater attention to electronic books and virtual services. Public libraries in the cities and villages of Iran were also content to rapid changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. For a considerable period of time, the libraries were closed for visits and in-person services in compliance with health protocols. Iran Public Libraries Foundation coordinated over 3000 libraries around the country by organizing the employees telecommuting, providing digital resources and encouraging the librarians to provide useful content on social media. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic led the researchers to explore the various aspects of the spread of this disease on information services and library programs. A variety of topics have been investigated including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of digital resources, collection making priorities and budgeting, virtual reference services, health literacy etc.; However, despite the sinking of this pandemic, the research on COVID-19 impacts on libraries is still increasing. The current issue of the Journal of Research on Information Science and Public Libraries (RISPL) is dedicated to new studies conducted on the effects of Covid-19 pandemic on the public libraries in Iran. The participation of librarians in social networks and the analysis of the content produced by them, the factors affecting the audience's tendency to view and use the virtual pages of public libraries, the experiences of librarians in providing online and in person programs and services during the pandemic, the readiness of libraries and use of virtual platforms are the main topics of the articles published in this issue.