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Evaluating Public Library Community Engagement and Impact for Sustainable Information Services

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Sustainable Digital Communities (iConference 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12051))

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Abstract

Public libraries have always had a pivotal function within the community. However, libraries are undergoing rapid changes, as are many industries in a globalised world. Therefore they need to re-evaluate their operations and services to provide for the changing needs of their users. In this paper, we describe a pilot study underway that measures the engagement and impact of two library programs/services for young children and their families – Giggle and Wiggle, and Story Time – that are offered by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Libraries in Canberra, Australia. Exploring the impact of these services will help in understanding the factors that ensure the sustainability of public libraries and their engagement with the communities they serve. These factors will focus on four key domains as have been identified from the literature: the educational, social, cultural, and economic impact these programs have on their communities. The findings of this study are expected to generate some practical strategies that public libraries can adopt to maximise community impact and engagement.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge with thanks the financial support provided by the Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University. They are particularly grateful to the Australian Capital Libraries (ACT) management and staff for their assistance with this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia

    M. Asim Qayyum, Waseem Afzal & Linda Mahony

Authors
  1. M. Asim Qayyum
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  2. Waseem Afzal
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  3. Linda Mahony
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Asim Qayyum .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Anneli Sundqvist

  2. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Gerd Berget

  3. University of Boras, Boras, Sweden

    Jan Nolin

  4. OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

    Kjell Ivar Skjerdingstad

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Qayyum, M.A., Afzal, W., Mahony, L. (2020). Evaluating Public Library Community Engagement and Impact for Sustainable Information Services. In: Sundqvist, A., Berget, G., Nolin, J., Skjerdingstad, K. (eds) Sustainable Digital Communities. iConference 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12051. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43687-2_48

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43687-2_48

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43686-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43687-2

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