Challenges Faced by the Sri Lankan School Libraries in the Period of Covid and the Current Economic Crisis: Special Reference to the Western Province School Libraries

Abstract

Sri Lanka is an island which has a school going population of 4.2 million students and
23592 teachers, distributed among10155 schools throughout the nation. The main objective of this
study was to explore how the Sri Lankan school libraries, especially those in the western province,
managed the challenges faced during the Covid phase and also during the years 2020-2022, owing
to the prevailing economic crisis. By the year 2022 Sri Lanka was facing a severe economic crisis
as a result of the depletion of the country's foreign reserves, which resulted in the shortages of food,
fuel, medication, cement, and other essential items. The school libraries too faced many
challenging issues due to the economic crisis, with regard to the purchasing of books and reading
materials and the training of staf . Therefore, a program was organized for a group of students in
the Western Province so as to encourage them to read and develop their skills in creative writing
and critical thinking.