Competencies for librarians serving children in the digital age: The case of Turkey

The main purpose of the thesis is to identify the fundamental competencies of librarians serving children in public libraries and to examine the perceptions of competencies for librarians working in public libraries and children's libraries affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Turkey within the scope of personal / interpersonal, professional, and discipline-based skills. The Universe of the research is composed of 955 librarians (N=955) working in public and children's libraries affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Turkey. The sample of the study is 315 (n) people. A web-based questionnaire was administered to 315 librarians in public libraries and children's libraries. The results show that librarians generally have high perceptions of their personal skills levels. Participants perceive themselves as "respectful of cultural diversity and individual differences," "warm and friendly," and "patient and tolerant towards children." A statistically significant relationship was found between personal skills and age. Foreign language is the professional skills area in which librarians believe they are the least qualified. A statistically significant relationship was found between professional skills and age. Discipline-specific skills that librarians assume themselves the least competent in are the use of web technologies and pedagogy. A statistically significant relationship was also found between discipline-specific skills and age and education level. In addition, according to the results, librarians have higher perceptions of "personal (interpersonal) attitudes and characteristics" and "general knowledge and skills" than their perceptions of "professional knowledge and skills."