A New approach to Public Libraries in Providing Health Information Services: A Case Study of Public Libraries Located in Bushehr

INTRUDUCTION: The study aimed to explore the status of public libraries in Bushehr province in in helping people access the accurate health information by investigating the rate of the librarians’ preparation for proposing the health services and materials in the public libraries of Bushehr province.
This research was an applied study that used a survey-descriptive method. Researcher-made questionnaire and checklist were used for data collection. The study population included all the public libraries and the librarians of Bushehr province.
FINDINGS: The results indicated that the rate of the health materials was low (=2.5%) in the public libraries. The findings showed that the librarians had a little awareness of health information services.
Public libraries are suitable environments to give proper health information and could respond effectively to the people's health information needs. This can help to attract more and more users and re-creating the informational role of public libraries in the society. According to this, there is an urgent need for policy-making and planning by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and Iran Public Libraries Association in order to satisfy user's health information needs.