Abstract:
Information democracy is a major human right issue of a civilized society. Public libraries are
one of the main pillars that need to be strengthened by the local authorities to bridge the
information gaps within the country. The global pandemic lockdown situation has a challenge
to the libraries around the globe by limiting its services and led the libraries to find new
dimensions of information dissemination and remote learning. The present study
investigates the remote services provided by the public libraries in Matara District before
and during the pandemic situation. A survey was conducted to collect data from 38 public
libraries. Results revealed that many libraries use free services such as social media, web 2.0
technologies, emails, and phone calls to continue their services to users remotely. Lack of
higher authorities’ attention, knowledge and technological infrastructure are major limiting
factors that the libraries face when providing remote services. More attention towards public
libraries needs to be ensured to establish better information democracy and equity among
rights to information of the country.
