Transforming Public Libraries into Community Centers: Case of Iran

The purpose of this research was to identify and rank social factors effective in transforming Iran's public libraries into social centers and develop a conceptual model. This is a mixed research conducted with a systematic grounded theory approach. Four effective community factors in transforming public libraries into community centers were identified: 1. promotion of social activities, 2. participation of public groups, 3. awareness of the community situation, and 4. promotion of community skills. By applying the theory of the public sphere, public libraries can inform people about government decisions and facilitate public debate between the government and citizens.