Thesis
Towards developing a methodology for capturing the social value of public libraries
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2022
- Thesis identifier
- T16318
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 200792884
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Towards the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty first century the public sector in the UK experienced unprecedented cuts to public spending. This led to public library services being evaluated alongside other public services (such as health, education, defence, transport, broadcasting, sport, culture and the arts), to determine which services were worthy of ongoing investment. The literature review revealed that statistical evaluations models failed to recognise the intrinsic value of public libraries, thus overlooking the social value that public libraries deliver for individuals and communities. The consequence of this was budget cuts and library closures. Also revealed through a review of Value Theory was that intrinsic value, regardless of context is subjective and difficult to define. Inspired by Linley and Usherwood’s seminal Social Impact Audit (SIA) model, this study produced a pragmatic and iterative qualitative model called SIA-21 to challenge funding cuts and library closures (Linley and Usherwood, 1998). Testing in a live case study environment demonstrated that the SIA-21 model generate meaningful evidence to better reflect the complex experiences of public libraries and diverse impact of public library engagement. Empirical research demonstrated how an alternative qualitative model, designed to generate meaningful evidence, would better reflect the complex experiences and diverse impact of public libraries.
- Advisor / supervisor
- McMenemy, David
- Resource Type
- DOI
Relations
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PDF of thesis T16318 | 2023-02-21 | Public | Download |