Investigating essential elements of community engagement in public libraries: An exploratory qualitative study
Abstract
This article discusses the findings of an exploratory qualitative case study involving Leicester Central Library. The purpose of this study was to investigate essential elements of community engagement in public libraries. Three research methods – semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis – were used to gather data. Analysis of the data suggested a model of seven essential elements of community engagement: ‘belonging’, ‘commitment’, ‘communication’, ‘a flexible approach’, ‘genuineness’, ‘relevance’ and ‘sustainability’. Implications of the model are made in conclusion for the promotion of genuine community engagement, where the community-driven approach and the organic nature of the community engagement process are seen as being paramount to engagement.
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Sung et al. (2013) identify seven elements of community engagement, including belonging, commitment, communication, flexibility, genuineness, relevance and sustainability.
“Sung et al. (2013), through a qualitative case study, identify seven elements of community engagement, including belonging, commitment, communication, flexibility, genuineness, relevance and sustainability.”
From Public libraries as social infrastructure: An integrative review of community roles (2026) · cites this paper as Sung et al., 2013
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- Authors
- Sung, H.-Y., Hepworth, M., & Ragsdell, G.
- Affiliations
- Loughborough University (GB)
- Venue
- Journal of Librarianship and Information Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-06-13
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 206-218
- ISSN
- 0022-2232 (ISSN-L)
- 0961-0006
- 1741-6477
- OpenAlex
- W1987244472
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 23.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- British Academy
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Administration
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Web and Library Services
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Science and Libraries
- Keywords
- community participation, public libraries, library-community relations, sense of belonging, commitment, communication, flexibility, genuineness, relevance, sustainability, community-based approach
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