Abstract: The needs and challenges faced by the rural library was the main focus in this

study. This study was hopes to find the needs and challenges faced by the library that is
limiting the library to serve the communities in the rural area. The independent variables in
this study were: Training; Staffing; Community Perception, and Technology while the
dependent variable was Rural Library’s performance and operation. This study was examined
the rural library’s needs and challenges encountered on in order to perform in to the best
performance to serve the rural libraries in Kuala Muda district, Kedah. The rural libraries
chosen were under the National Library of Malaysia which were: Perpustakaan Desa Kg Hilir,
Perpustakaan Desa Kurnia Jaya, Perpustakaan Desa Bandar Perdana, and the rural libraries
under the Kedah State Library which were: Perpustakaan Desa Kg Sg Gelam, Perpustakaan
Desa Kg Thye Eng, and Perpustakaan Desa Belau. The data was collected through
distribution of questionnaires to 6 rural libraries from the total population of 10 rural libraries in
Kuala Muda area. The findings were analyzed through SPSS on identifying the frequency and
central tendency of the respondents towards the researcher questions and statement. The
finding showed that the training and staffing identified as the needs of the rural libraries, along
with second variables which is challenges in the factor of community perception and
technology. Few recommendations were suggested to help the parent organization solving
the problem identified from this study in order to improve the rural library operation and
performance.

Keywords: Rural libraries; Needs; Challenges; Rural Library’s performance.

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