The influx of expatriate workforce into the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the
last four decades is now causing social, cultural, and economic problems. To reduce dependence on
the foreign workforce, the governments of the Arabian Gulf Region have introduced the localization
policy with the sole purpose of preparing skilled indigenous workforce through education and training,
including continuing education (CE). A number of CE programs in all major subject fields, including
Library and Information Science (LlS) are in place in the region. The purpose of this study is to review
these programs and to see their potential for contributing towards the common goal of localization in
the GCC countries. The problems, which inhibit maximizing the benefits of CE programs and making
them effective and result oriented in developing human resources in the Arabian Gulf Region, are also
discussed. The results of this study reveal that the LIS CE programs in the Arabian Gulf Region have
potential for preparing nationals as part of the localization initiatives of the GCC countries.