Effectiveness of Educational Courses for Public Librarians in East Azerbaijan Province and Suggestions for Improvement

This study aimed at the evaluation of the effectiveness of educational courses held for public librarians in east Azerbaijan province and proposes appropriate solutions for improvement the courses.
This research implemented using survey method. Kirk-Patrick model was used for evaluation and collecting data through a questionnaire that had 28 questions. The reliability coefficient of this tool was 0/94 and Validity of it, approved by selected experts. The community of study consisted of all employees participated in educational courses in public libraries in east Azerbaijan province (330 people), and 178 ones were selected randomly as sample to fill questionnaire. To analyze the extracted data, we used descriptive and inferential statistics (one-sample t-test and ANOVA).
Results showed that the “Response” dimension with average score of 22/78 with 4/24 Standard Deviation (SD) had the highest effectiveness. “Results” dimension was in the lowest level with the average score of 12/01 and 4/906 SD. Also the results of comparison between learner's average scores of effectiveness, considering the variables namely gender and field of study, showed that there was significant difference between the views of learners.
Originality/Value: Originality of this research was in the reveal of the weakness in the applicability of educational courses in Iran Public Libraries Foundation and the need for concentrating on objective results.