Standards for Iranian Hospital Libraries: Why do Hospital Libraries Need to be Standardized?

The objective of developing the National Standard for Hospital Libraries (NSHL) is to present an efficient tool to replace scientific methods with traditional ones. The standards should be designed to be used as a comprehensive guide for librarians working in hospitals in various fields. Various standards are currently being developed for national, public, and academic libraries. Despite the activity of more than 200 educational and medical centers and a large number of public and private medical centers in Iran, there was no comprehensive standard that could meet this group of libraries' expectations. Therefore, the development of a standard for hospital libraries began based on national research. Finally, this standard was prepared in four chapters, including mission and organization, strategic planning, resources management, and service management. This standard was handed over to the Iranian National Standards Organization and the Deputy for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education to be available to users and stakeholders. The NSHL is a comprehensive guideline for establishing and developing hospital libraries and applies to all hospital libraries, both public and private.