Virtual Librarianship: A New Role of Librarian in 21st Century

The study focused on the new roles of Librarians in 21st-century librarianship. It sought to answer the following: (1) What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex, and year/s of library experience; (2) What is the perception of librarians with regards to 21st-century skills that should be possessed by a librarian; (3) What are specific librarian's roles which emerged due to the influence of 21st century to librarianship in terms of work settings and library roles? The study used descriptive quantitative research approach, with total enumeration as the sampling method, and 30 Librarians from Lucena, Quezon Province as respondents. It also utilized formulas, namely that of Percentage and Weighted Average Mean to compute results. The data yielded were interpreted using a Likert Scale. Results show that most were 22- 25 y/o, have experience of 2-6 years and were female. The perceived skills that librarians should have are flexibility, computer literacy, and community builders. For roles, they should be managers, educators, and technical support. The research then recommends: librarians and institutions must be updated on technological trends and developments. Collaboration and training to develop skills for a digitized world should also be done. Lastly, based on the findings, a staff development and training program entitled, "Librarians of Yesterday to Librarians of Now: A Staff Development and Training Program" was created to develop more skilled librarians.