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Introduction
The desktop computer alone can no longer be at the forefront as technology advances and computing goes mobile and ubiquitous. Many everyday devices are connected to the web in some way as part of the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm (Bokharaei Nia et al., 2023; Chang et al., 2018; Chohan et al., 2023; Khan et al., 2022). Every daily technology products, from smartphones to refrigerators to something like temperature sensors in various buildings, are seemingly intangibly connected via 4G/5G broadband cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Thus, IoT's convenience and advantages make the IoT market heating up (Pal and Purushothaman, 2017). According to Wegner (2022), IoT Analytics projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.0% for the IoT market size between 2022 and 2027, indicating that IoT is a growing trend worldwide and among different industries (Golpîra et al., 2021).
Meanwhile, the use of IoT in libraries has led to the creation of several library services (De Sarkar, 2022). One such service is resource tracking, where sensors are used to track resources and guide users to the correct location. Li et al. (2015) proposed an Autonomous Robotic Shelf Scanning system to automate the tracking of missing or misplaced books, which has been implemented in several libraries, including the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library of the University of Chicago campus and the Santa Clara University Library (De Sarkar, 2022). Membership apps installed on smartphones can replace physical membership cards, and sensor-based face recognition systems or biometric identification can be used to identify library members. Location tracing systems using Bluetooth-enabled indoor navigation techniques, such as BeaLib and BlueBeam, allow users to identify different sections and guide them to locate resources (Chiu and Ho, 2022; Uttarwar et al., 2017). The IoT architecture also enables users to receive notifications about new arrivals, news, events, workshops, seminars and conferences. Solus, BLUEcloud Mobile and Iguana mobile library apps, as well as beacon-supported functionality, help libraries engage users more effectively (Breeding, 2021). Because a growing number of public and academic libraries are using IoT technologies, this research examines how IoT contributes to expanding smart libraries for strengthening library services and related challenges to provide recommendations related to IoT in this context for various stakeholders.