Abstract:
Maldives is a small country in the SAARC region, with a population of less than 400,000.
According to the Maldives Library Association, the country had 294 libraries in 2012.
Literature reveals that qualified LIS professionals in the country are still extremely few. Most
of the literature on Maldives LIS education highlight the contribution of Sri Lanka in
developing library human resources in the Maldives. Therefore, the study reviews to what
extent Sri Lanka has contributed to LIS education in the Maldives. The library profession in
the Maldives is still in the development stage. Therefore, the study assists policymakers in
making informed decisions in designing knowledge transfer in the future. Literature confirms
that formal training was started after the establishment of the ‘National Library of Maldives’
in 1982. Therefore, this study reviewed literature published from 1982 to 2022 on librarianship
in the Maldives. Twenty papers published in journals and one monograph on the subject were
reviewed. The authors observed that out of fifty-one (51) training programs conducted in the
Maldives during the period 1987-2012, a LIS organization or an individual from Sri Lanka had
directly contributed to 12. This includes the three-tier distance mode Diploma in Library and
Information Science conducted by the Sri Lanka Library Association (SLLA) However, there
had not been a direct focus on the specialized needs of school library staff. The first local long-
term LIS program was initiated in 2010 by the Maldives College of Higher Education, which
was renamed as the Maldives National University in 2011. However, due to the shortage of
local experts to teach these programs, the initial years of the program were taught with the
contribution of LIS professionals from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Canada. The results suggest
that a close relationship had been maintained between Sri Lanka and the Maldives in terms of
capacity building through LIS education and training. The content delivered mainly focused
on general librarianship. The Maldives authorities may obtain further assistance from outside
the country to develop its school library programs.
