Background and Objectives: Sustainable development is development that supplies the needs of the present generation without harming the ability of future generations to supplies their needs. This definition seems simple, but it has a broad meaning that includes all aspects of human life, and in the course of it, the strategies, plans and policies of societies in various political, economic, cultural, environmental, educational, health and other fields should be planned, In addition to the simultaneous development of these fields, all the potential of the savings and funds of the communities should be used so that this potential is not reduced for the future generations and they can also use these funds. University libraries, as institutions that are directly related to knowledge and the progress of science, have an important role in the country's achievement of sustainable development. This research was conducted with the aim of studying the role of libraries of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in the sustainable development of Khuzestan province.
Methodology: From the point of view of the objective, this research is of the type of practical and developmental studies, and from the point of view of the method, it is a part of qualitative studies. In this research, the descriptive phenomenological method of Kleizer has been followed. The participants in this research were all experts in the field of sustainable development of Khuzestan province, and the statistical sample was continued in a purposeful sampling until reaching the Data saturation, and 10 people participated in the research as a statistical sample and were included in the in-depth interview process. In order to analyze the data in this research, the inductive coding method and thematic analysis method have been used.
Findings: The analysis of the interviews conducted in relation to the role of university libraries in the sustainable development of Khuzestan province in the form of a thematic analysis on three levels of comprehensive themes (cultural and educational, economic and environmental), organizing the spread of social justice, promoting learning. Citizenship, creating intellectual thought, strengthening the foundation of social institutions, strengthening the foundation of the family, expanding the culture of urbanism, social cohesion, promoting responsibility, expanding the political literacy of society, expanding people participation, reforming the value system, sustainable learning, developing values, expanding knowledge and information. , ease of access to knowledge, promotion of thinking in the society, demand, optimal consumption of resources, help to grow the local economy of the region, environmental crisis, water resource management, protection of animals, strengthening of personal health and strengthening of public health) and the basis is categorized. The results of interview analysis have identified 132 basic themes in 24 organizing themes and 4 basic themes. Also, according to the results of this research, the social role of university libraries in the sustainable development of concepts such as the expansion of social justice, the promotion of citizenship learning, the creation of intellectual thought, the strengthening of the foundation of social institutions, the strengthening of the family foundation, the expansion of urban customs and culture, social cohesion, the promotion of responsibility and Expanding the political literacy of the society is of interest. In the context of the cultural and educational role of university libraries in the sustainable development of expanding public participation; Reforming the value system, sustainable learning, development of values, expansion of knowledge and information, ease of access to knowledge, promotion of thinking in society, and demandingness have been extracted. Regarding the economic role of academic libraries in sustainable development, optimal consumption of resources and helping the growth of the local economy of the target region have been discussed by the interviewees, and finally, in the context of the environmental role of academic libraries in sustainable development, helping to pay attention to the environmental crisis in the province, water resources management, protecting animals, strengthening personal health and strengthening environmental health have been considered.
Discussion: The findings of the research showed that university libraries in Khuzestan province have had an impact on sustainable development from four social, economic, cultural, educational, and environmental dimensions. Considering the role of university libraries as centers of knowledge and information science and the important role that the information element plays in sustainable development; It is necessary for libraries to change the role of library users to centers of information dissemination and exchange of ideas in order to perform better in this field.