Public libraries (PLs) aim to meet the information needs of their local communities and play a vital role in the development of a nation. Comprehensive published literature is available on PLs in Pakistan and could explore the challenges encountered by these PLs in the country through literature review. Thus, to fill this gap in existing literature, a review of literature was conducted to explore the status, issues, and perspectives of the PLs in Pakistan since its partition in 1947. The researchers reviewed library and information science (LIS) literature published on the subject topics. Various electronic data sources were searched such as Taylor and Francis, Emerald Insight, EBSCOhost, Science Direct, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, Library and Information Science s (LISA), Library, Information Science & Technology s (LISTA), and Google Scholar. Similarly, the profiles of prominent Pakistani LIS scholars were also consulted for the said purpose. A search string was formulated to get precise results with some limitations on extracting required data. Peer-reviewed studies published from 1947 to 2021 in the English language were included in present study, which extracted 74 citations. After deleting duplicates from titles and abstracts, a full-text assessment was done. Finally, 27 studies were included, which matched the search criteria and explored various issues of the PLs in Pakistan. The findings of this study reveal that PLs in Pakistan are facing several challenges such as nonexistence of appropriate planning, absence of library legislation, lack of ICT application in libraries, absence of policy regarding public relations and publicity (PRP) of library resources and services. Other issues are lack of proper service structure for LIS professionals, as a deficiency in providing proper LIS continuing education and training opportunities to LIS professionals, insufficient human resources, the bureaucratic administrative structure of public libraries, shortage of sufficient funds and financial independence. The highlighted issues and challenges may serve as a guide for public library policy and decision-makers in reforming their present policies, or in articulating a modern public library system in Pakistan. This study suggests several recommendations which would help the competent authorities and policymakers to transform the PLs in Pakistan from neglected to indispensable community learning and information resource centers. This is a first study of its kind in Pakistan, and it is hoped that the findings will serve as a springboard for future research in the LIS field and contribute to the literature on the PLs in Pakistan.

中文翻译：

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巴基斯坦公共图书馆的问题和前景：回顾

公共图书馆 (PL) 旨在满足当地社区的信息需求，并在国家发展中发挥重要作用。在巴基斯坦的 PL 上可以获得全面的已发表文献，可以通过文献综述探索这些 PL 在该国遇到的挑战。因此，为了填补现有文献中的这一空白，对文献进行了回顾，以探讨自 1947 年巴基斯坦分治以来巴基斯坦 PL 的现状、问题和前景。研究人员回顾了发表在主题话题。搜索了各种电子数据源，例如 Taylor 和 Francis、Emerald Insight、EBSCOhost、Science Direct、Web of Science (WoS)、Scopus、图书馆和信息科学 (LISA)、图书馆、信息科学与技术 (LISTA)、和谷歌学术。同样，出于上述目的，还咨询了著名的巴基斯坦 LIS 学者的资料。制定搜索字符串以获得精确的结果，但对提取所需数据有一些限制。本研究纳入了 1947 年至 2021 年以英语发表的经过同行评审的研究，并提取了 74 次引用。从标题和摘要中删除重复项后，进行了全文评估。最后，纳入了 27 项研究，这些研究符合搜索标准并探讨了巴基斯坦 PL 的各种问题。这项研究的结果表明，巴基斯坦的 PL 面临着一些挑战，例如缺乏适当的规划、图书馆立法的缺失、图书馆 ICT 应用的缺乏、缺乏有关图书馆资源和服务的公共关系和宣传 (PRP) 的政策。其他问题包括缺乏适当的 LIS 专业人员服务结构，缺乏为 LIS 专业人员提供适当的 LIS 继续教育和培训机会，人力资源不足，公共图书馆的官僚行政结构，缺乏足够的资金和财务独立性。突出显示的问题和挑战可作为公共图书馆政策和决策者改革其现行政策或阐明巴基斯坦现代公共图书馆系统的指南。这项研究提出了几项建议，这些建议将有助于主管当局和决策者将巴基斯坦的 PL 从被忽视的社区转变为不可或缺的社区学习和信息资源中心。