Social and Cultural Capital in Public Libraries and Its Impact on the Organization of New Forms of Services and Implementation of Social Projects
Abstract
Public libraries are institutions of culture that, apart from their basic tasks, may also perform various social functions. Since they treat all customers equally and are open to all citizens regardless of their status, they enjoy a high level of trust in local communities. Thus, they may participate in social integration and activity, social capital building and civic engagement processes. This, however, requires not only adequate facilities but also outgoing and engaged personnel. The research analyzed the attitudes of public librarians and compared them to the attitudes of librarians working in other types of libraries. Differences were reported in some areas, suggesting that certain actions are needed in library management.
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Recent work has suggested that public library programmes can contribute to cultural capital development and help bridge cultural divides, particularly for immigrant and minority-language communities.
“Recent work has suggested that public library programmes can contribute to cultural capital development and help bridge cultural divides, particularly for immigrant and minority-language communities (Lee, 2025;Wojciechowska and Topolska, 2021).”
From Public libraries as social infrastructure: An integrative review of community roles (2026) · cites this paper as Wojciechowska and Topolska, 2021
Cites
The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Sociology of Education
(2004) · doi:10.4324/9780203464106 · Cited by 307 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Pierre Bourdieu—the French sociologist and one of the progenitors of social capital— emphasized that cultural capital, alongside social capital, plays a vital role in the development of individuals (Bourdieu, 1971, 2004).”
BackgroundUse of library space and the library as place
Aabø, S., & Audunson, R. (2012) · Library & Information Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2011.06.002 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
How do public libraries function as meeting places?
Aabø, S., Audunson, R., & Vårheim, A. (2010) · Library & Information Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2009.07.008 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Do public libraries contribute to social capital?
Johnson, C. A. (2010) · Library & Information Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2009.12.006 · Cited by 147 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…social integration places, constituting an important space in social life, which suggests that analysis of the social benefits of the operation of libraries must not be limited to the impact arising from information services only (Johnson & Griffis, 2009; Johnson, 2010; Griffis & Johnson, 2014).”
BackgroundVårheim, A. (2011) · Library & Information Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2010.04.005 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Social capital and public libraries: The need for research
Vårheim, A. (2007) · Library & Information Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2007.04.009 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Social capital and inclusion in rural public libraries: A qualitative approach
Griffis, M. R., & Johnson, C. A. (2014) · Journal of Librarianship and Information Science · doi:10.1177/0961000612470277 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
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Public libraries as social infrastructure: An integrative review of community roles
Lee, K. (2026) · Journal of Librarianship and Information Science · doi:10.1177/09610006261461777
- Authors
- Wojciechowska, M., & Topolska, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Gdańsk (PL)
- WSB Merito University in Wroclaw (PL)
- Corresponding author
- Wojciechowska, Maja
- Venue
- Journal of Library Administration
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2021-07-23
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 627-643
- ISSN
- 0193-0826 (ISSN-L)
- 1540-3564
- OpenAlex
- W3183406694
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 10.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Library Administration (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Administration
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Library Science and Information
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Web and Library Services
- Keywords
- public libraries, social capital, cultural capital, social role of libraries, social integration, citizen participation, social projects, library services, librarian attitudes, library management, library staff
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