Abstract
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to study how Swedish local politicians perceive the impact of public library digital services on public libraries and to discuss how this can affect the sustainable development of public libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
– Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with local politicians from 19 different Swedish municipalities. Data were treated to qualitative content analysis and discussed based on the concept of sustainable organization.
Findings
– According to local politicians, public library digital services may affect public libraries through changes to libraries’ physical spaces, librarians’ tasks and competencies and libraries’ economic situations. Based on these findings, public library digital services can both strengthen and weaken public library sustainability through, for example, increased access and expenditures, the latter of which may threaten public library sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
– Interviews did not focus specifically on the politicians’ views on public library digital services but dealt generally with their views on public libraries. To identify reasons for variations in views on this topic, follow-up interviews should be done. Data on views from public library managers would also be of use to determine the degree to which they are shared with local politicians.
Originality/value
– When sustainability and public libraries are discussed, the focus is generally on the library’s contribution to a sustainable society. Here, the focus is instead on the sustainability of the public library itself.
Subject
Library and Information Sciences,General Business, Management and Accounting
Reference21 articles.
1. Aabø, S.
(2005), “The role and value of public libraries in the age of digital technologies”,
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science
, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 205-211.
2. Audunson, R.
(2005), “The public library as a meeting-place in a multicultural and digital context: the necessity of low-intensive meeting-places”,
Journal of Documentation
, Vol. 61 No. 3, pp. 429-441.
3. Bergström, A.
and
Höglund, L.
(2014), “A national survey of early adopters of e-book reading in Sweden”,
Information Research
, Vol. 19 No. 2, available at: www.informationr.net/ir/19-2/paper621.html#.VJM_K2TF_1g
4. Choy, F.C.
(2011), “From library stacks to library-in-a-pocket: will users be around?”,
Library Management
, Vol. 32 Nos 1/2, pp. 62-72.
5. Coblentz, J.B.
(2002), “Organizational sustainability: the three aspects that matter”,
ERNWACA’s first Strategy Session
, Dakar, available at: www.rocare.org/docs/Organizational%20Sustainability%20by%20Joe%20COBLENTZ%202002-02.pdf
Cited by
6 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献