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Community engagement in public libraries

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 Malaysian Journal of Library & Information Science, Vol. 18, no. 1, 2013: 1-13

Modelling community engagement

in public libraries1
Hui-Yun Sung1 and Mark Hepworth2
1
National Chung Hsing University, TAIWAN
2
Loughborough University, UNITED KINGDOM
e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper explores core concepts relating to community engagement in public libraries. It offers a
new conceptual framework to help understand collaborative, productive relationships between
information service providers and service users. Fundamental to this framework are two underlying
variables of ‘influence of authority’ and ‘willingness to learn’. This paper explores these variables and
related elements that were shown to influence the success of community engagement in public
libraries in the United Kingdom. The study has developed a model of essential elements of
community engagement in public libraries, as a first step towards systematic research in this area.
This paper focuses on the implications for practice and suggests a community engagement model
that is grounded in the reality and perceptions of the community and the participants, rather than
only from an institutional perspective.

Keywords: Community engagement; Public libraries; Library outreach programmes; United Kingdom.

INTRODUCTION

Literature has evidenced the popularity of the term, community engagement (CE), and
research has identified the objectives of CE for public libraries, in terms of tackling social
exclusion (Stilwell 2006; Birdi, Wilson and Cocker 2008; Vincent 2009), promoting
democracy (Kranich 2005), and contributing to social/human/cultural capital (Hillenbrand
2005; Hart 2007; Goulding 2008). Although there has been no widely-accepted definition
of CE, for the purpose of this research, Rogers and Robinson’s (2004, p.1) definition of CE
was adopted:

Community engagement encompasses a variety of approaches whereby public service

bodies empower citizens to consider and express their views on how their particular
needs are best met. These may range from encouraging people to have a say on
setting the priorities for community safety […] to sharing decision-making with them in
relation to defined services.

While there was a call for wider, deeper and stronger levels of CE in library services (Hart
2007; Mehra and Srinivasan 2007; Goulding 2009), it was identified that there existed a
lack of shared vision and strategies towards CE in the librarianship context (Goulding 2009;
Taylor and Pask 2008; Willingham 2008).

1
This paper has been presented at the Fourth International Conference of Libraries, Information and
Society 2012 (ICOLIS 2012), Inclusion and Outreach in Libraries, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, 19-21
November 2012.
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Sung, H.Y. and Hepworth, M.

Furthermore, it was observed that neither systematic research had examined the CE
process in practice in public libraries; nor have the practical implications of CE for public
libraries been addressed. To this end, it was considered appropriate to investigate the
essential elements of CE and the implications of these elements for public libraries.
Therefore, this research aimed to explore and identify essential elements of CE in public
libraries, from the perspectives of both information service providers and service users.
This paper reports upon three case studies of public libraries in the United Kingdom which
engaged with CE in their services.

METHODOLOGY

This research adopted a pragmatic philosophical perspective, where the researcher

focused on the research problem and used a range of approaches available to understand
the problem (Rossman and Wilson 1985). In this regard, this was an exploratory,
qualitative study, involving three case studies in the United Kingdom described below:
a) Citizens’ Eye, a community news agency, is a social enterprise and a legal entity in
its own right. Under it were 12 different news agencies (at the time the research
was conducted), each involving different groups of people in the community, such
as young people, the elderly, the homeless and ex-offenders. Citizens’ Eye
originated as a community initiative in January 2008 that was run by volunteers
and was self-sustained, with facilitation from Leicester Central Library through co-
location, providing resources and staff support. In this research, Citizens’ Eye was
defined as a library service, due to the fact that Citizens’ Eye was hosted by
Leicester Central Library and there was overlap of staffing between Citizens’ Eye
and Leicester Central Library.
b) Project LiRA (Libraries in Renewal Areas) set out to build new public libraries in
three deprived and disadvantaged areas in Derby (i.e. Allenton, Chellaston and
Mackworth). The project was conducted by Derby City Libraries and funded by the
Big Lottery Fund’s Community Libraries Programme in 2007-2010. As required by
the programme, Derby City Libraries carried out a range of CE activities in the
service planning and delivery.
c) The Community Health and Wellbeing in Libraries project was a one-year long
project, from September 2009 to September 2010, working with National Health
Service: Community Health Services across three libraries (i.e. Coalville, Melton
and Oadby) in Leicestershire, with supporting funding from Primary Care Trust.
Services provided by the libraries included: exercise referral, self-help (through
holding Health events), cognitive behavioural therapy, information prescriptions
and bibliotherapy (therapeutic use of literature).

The rationale behind the choice of the three case studies was that they all used
‘community engagement’ language. Yet, the three case studies were fundamentally
different with regard to whether the selected project was initiated from above or from
below. Accordingly, the three selected public libraries showed different perspectives on
the process of engaging with the community, and therefore used different strategies and
methods to involve members of the community in the project planning, management or
delivery. Table 1 compares the characteristics of the three selected case studies.

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 Modelling Community Engagement in Public Libraries

Table 1: Comparison of the Three Selected Case Studies

Selected Cases
Community Health and
Citizens’ Eye Project LiRA Wellbeing in Libraries
Characteristics

Leicester Central Derby City Leicestershire County

Service providers2
Library Libraries Council: Library Services

Stakeholders Library services, local communities and partnership organisations

The library’s roles Facilitators Leaders

Customers with
The community’s roles Active stakeholders Passive beneficiaries
choices
A community-driven
Approaches A library-led approach (top-down)
approach (bottom-up)
A space of
Ownership of the
communities’ own A space that was made for communities
space
making
Emphasis on both
Library staff’s Emphasis on community and Emphasis on
attitudes community knowledge professional professional knowledge
knowledge
Direction of Direct and indirect
Direct engagement Indirect engagement
engagement engagement

Three data collection techniques namely semi-structured interviews, direct observation

and document analysis, were used in this study. Both information service providers’ and
service users’ viewpoints were captured. A total of 34 face-to-face interviews were
conducted, on a one-to-one basis, with library staff, local community members and
partnership organization staff in the three selected case studies to obtain deep insights
into the research participants’ perceptions of CE, elements that helped make CE work and
challenges to stakeholders’ participation in the process of CE. In addition, 12 relevant
events and meetings were observed in order to capture key stakeholders’ behaviours
when they participated in CE events, and to understand the meanings of their behaviours
in that setting. Finally, documents (e.g. government policies, meeting minutes, reports and
press release) were collected to help understand wider context as well as previous work on
CE, and to help substantiate the findings.

Data was analysed and coded, in an inductive way, using the thematic analysis procedure
informed by Braun and Clarke (2006). Additionally, techniques were borrowed from
grounded theory analysis (Glaser 2002). For instance, constant comparisons made
between data (e.g. coding the second data source with the first in mind) and between data
and theoretical samples (e.g. coding subsequent data with the emerging theory in mind)
were drawn to follow upon the researcher’s hunches. Data were managed, using ATLAS.ti
6.1, a qualitative data analysis software.

2
It is worth noting that Leicester Central Library and Leicestershire County Council: Library Services
are two different library authorities.
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Sung, H.Y. and Hepworth, M.

The trustworthiness of the research findings were enhanced through triangulation,

respondent validation, and consistent and robust analysis of the data. In terms of
triangulation (Bryman 2008), this research involved adopting multiple methods of
investigation (i.e. interviews, observations, and documentation) and obtaining evidence
from different sources (i.e. Leicester Central Library, Derby City Libraries, and
Leicestershire County Council: Library Services). In terms of respondent validation
(Creswell 2009), the researcher took the final report of specific themes back to the key
research participants in the three case study libraries and they indicated the accuracy of
descriptions of the specific case studies and endorsed the research findings.

FINDINGS

This section presents essential elements of CE in the case specific context, discusses
relationships between those elements, and identifies underlying variables in the CE process.
A model of essential elements of CE in public libraries is also proposed.

Essential Elements of Community Engagement in the Case Specific Context

Depending upon the different rationales behind the three (on-going) projects and the
different beliefs, values and ways of working in the three projects, various elements that
emerged and that were related to CE follow.

a) Case Study One: Citizens’ Eye (Leicester Central Library)

From the data gathered through interviews, observations and documentation, seven
essential elements of CE in Citizens’ Eye were identified: ‘belonging’, ‘commitment’,
‘communication’, ‘a flexible approach’, ‘genuineness’, ‘relevance’ and ‘sustainability’.
These elements are interpreted as follows:
• Belonging: feelings of ownership and the emphasis on relationship-building between
the service and the community.
• Commitment: the degree of commitment to the project by the relevant stakeholders.
• Communication: the way in which the service communicated with the community.
• A flexible approach: a variety of methods that were employed to engage with the
community and to work in partnership.
• Genuineness: authenticity or a true reflection of what was said to be.
• Relevance: the degree of relevance or benefits of the project to relevant stakeholders.
• Sustainability: the continuity of the project and the impact of the project on relevant
stakeholders.

b) Case Study Two: Project LiRA (Derby City Libraries)

From the data gathered through interviews, observations and documentation, eight
essential elements of CE in Project LiRA were identified: ‘accountability’, ‘hierarchy’,
‘commitment’, ‘communication’, ‘a flexible approach’, ‘genuineness’, ‘relevance’ and
‘sustainability’. Six essential elements carry similar interpretation as in case study one. Two
new essential elements are interpreted as follows:
• Accountability: the extent that the initiative was conforming to or driven by external
organisational agenda.
• Hierarchy: the influence of the hierarchical nature of the organisational structure and
culture.

c) Case Study Three: Community Health and Wellbeing in Libraries (Leicestershire County
Council: Library Services)
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 Modelling Community Engagement in Public Libraries

From the data gathered through interviews, observations and documentation, six essential
elements of CE in Community Health and Wellbeing in Libraries were identified:
‘accountability’, ‘hierarchy’, ‘expertise’, ‘a flexible approach’, ‘familiarity’ and ‘relevance’.
Four essential elements carry similar interpretation as in case studies one and two. Two
new essential elements are interpreted as follows:
• Expertise: the emphasis on library staff’s professional knowledge on community needs
and approaches to community involvement.
• Familiarity: the value placed on methods that have been applied before to engage with
the community and work in partnership.

Table 2 shows the occurrence of essential elements of CE in the three case studies. There
were two types of occurrence. One was elements occurred in the selected cases (symbol:
√); the other was elements did not occur in the selected cases (symbol: ─).

Table 2: Occurrence of Essential Elements of Community Engagement

in the Three Case Studies
Selected Cases
Community Health and
Elements Citizens’ Eye Project LiRA
Wellbeing in Libraries
Accountability ─


Hierarchy ─


Belonging
─ ─
Commitment

─
Communication

─
A flexible approach



Expertise ─ ─

Familiarity ─ ─

Genuineness

─
Relevance



Sustainability

─

Relationships between Essential Elements of Community Engagement

Table 3 presents the four attributes of relationships between essential elements of CE.
These are: coupled relationship, exclusive relationship, strong relationship and weak
relationship. Relationships between elements were distinguished based on the types of
occurrence of the essential elements of CE in the three case studies.

Table 3: Attributes of Relationships between Essential Elements of Community Engagement

Attributes of Relationships Meanings
Coupled relationship Elements had the same type of occurrence.
Exclusive relationship Elements did not have the same type of occurrence.
Strong relationship The relationship (either coupled or exclusive) occurred in all
three case studies.
Weak relationship The relationship (either coupled or exclusive) occurred in two
out of the three case studies.

Once the rules were identified by the researchers, there were patterns in Table 2 that
could be understood, using the four attributes of relationships observed. Four patterns of

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Sung, H.Y. and Hepworth, M.

relationships between different essential elements of CE were identified: strongly coupled,

weakly coupled, strongly exclusive and weakly exclusive (Table 4).

Table 4: Patterns of Relationships between Essential Elements of Community Engagement

Patterns of Relationships Coupled Exclusive
Strong Elements had the same type of Elements did not have the same
occurrence in all three case type of occurrence in any of the
studies. three case studies.
Symbol: Symbol:

Weak Elements had the same type of Elements had the same type of
occurrence in only two of three occurrence in only one of the
case studies. three case studies.
Symbol: Symbol:

A discussion of relationships between essential elements of CE identified two key

underlying variables, that is, ‘influence of authority’ and ‘willingness to learn’. These two
variables are discussed in the following sections. The question “How did the other nine
elements relate to the elements of ‘relevance’ and ‘sustainability’ in the CE process?” was
used as a structure to organise the relationship between those essential elements of CE:

Underlying Variable: ‘Influence of Authority’

The underlying variable that influenced the dynamics of the relationships between the
three elements (i.e. ‘accountability’, ‘hierarchy’ and ‘belonging’) has been termed as
‘influence of authority’, which was defined as the extent that the initiative was led by the
service or the community.

The essential element of ‘belonging’ indicated that Citizens’ Eye was initiated, led and
sustained by the community and Leicester Central Library acted as a facilitator in its
development. This implied a continuous and interactive process of CE. Accordingly, feelings
of ownership between the service and the community were two-way and their relationship
was at a personal level and to their mutual benefit.

The essential element of ‘accountability’ suggested that Project LiRA and Community
Health and Wellbeing in Libraries were initiated, run and sustained by Derby City Libraries
and Leicestershire County Council: Library Services respectively, with different levels of
involvement from local communities, in order to fulfil the libraries’ accountability to their
funders. In addition, the ‘hierarchy’ of the organisational culture and library staff resources
had a direct impact on how CE was implemented, which in turn influenced the relationship
between the service and the community.

For example, in the case of Project LiRA, feelings of ownership of those whose voices were
listened to and acted upon were stronger than those who felt their voices were not
influential over service matters. Therefore, a direct relationship was found between the
library and the community whose opinions were listened to and acted upon. Furthermore,
due to a lack of direct involvement from local communities in Community Health and
Wellbeing in Libraries, there was no mention made of feelings of ownership and a good
relationship between the library and the community was defined only by library staff.

Hence, it was evident that the ‘influence of authority’ in the decision making was an
underlying variable that influenced the different relationships between the three elements,
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 Modelling Community Engagement in Public Libraries

namely ‘belonging’, ‘hierarchy’ and ‘accountability’. In other words, if local communities

engaged with the decision-making process, they were more likely to feel ownership
towards the service. If they did not feel part of the decision-making process, they were less
likely to feel ownership towards the service.

In addition, influenced by the changing relationships between ‘belonging’, ‘hierarchy’ and

‘accountability’ was the essential element of ‘commitment’. In Citizens’ Eye, accompanied
with ‘commitment’ was ‘belonging’; in Project LiRA, accompanied with ‘commitment’ were
‘hierarchy’ and ‘accountability’. However, the level of ‘commitment’ from local
communities in the two cases was different, which in turn influenced the ‘sustainability’ of
their participation. In other words, there was a direct correlation between the level of
‘commitment’ and the perceived level of outcomes, such as ‘sustainability’, when engaging
with CE in libraries. In this regard, the ‘influence of authority’ played an important role in
explaining the different outcomes, because it was evidenced that local communities’
feeling of authority over service design and delivery determined their commitment to the
service (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Underlying Variable: ‘Influence of Authority’

(‘Belonging’ and ‘Commitment’ relationship to ‘Sustainability’)

Underlying Variable: ‘Willingness to Learn’

The underlying variable that influenced the dynamics of the relationships between the
three elements (i.e. ‘expertise’, ‘familiarity’ and ‘genuineness’) has been termed as
‘willingness to learn’, which was defined as the extent that the service was willing to
embrace a community-driven approach or a library-based approach for implementing CE.

The elements of ‘familiarity’ and ‘expertise’ suggested that the Community Health and
Wellbeing in Libraries project was planned and delivered in a traditional, library-based
fashion, which emphasised the professional knowledge that library staff had about
community needs and approaches to community involvement. Accordingly, ‘relevance’ of
this project to local communities was also defined by library staff.

The essential element of ‘genuineness’ suggested that both Citizens’ Eye and Project LiRA
realised the importance and benefits of authentic CE, instead of adopting CE methods
simply as a tick-box exercise. Although both projects evidenced the essential elements of
‘relevance’ and ‘sustainability’, the degree of their contributing to elements of ‘relevance’
and ‘sustainability’ differed. In this regard, the underlying variable (i.e. ‘influence of
authority’) accounted for the different outcomes. In other words, when accompanied with
‘hierarchy’ and ‘accountability’, ‘genuineness’ became the authority’s rhetoric in order to

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Sung, H.Y. and Hepworth, M.

meet the funding body’s objectives, which then negatively influenced the ‘sustainability’ of
community involvement, as evidenced in Project LiRA. However, when accompanied with
‘belonging’, ‘genuineness’ promoted a learning process which it was argued was
fundamental for both the community and the library service, which helped increase the
‘sustainability’ of Citizens’ Eye through capacity building.

Therefore, it was evident that the library’s ‘willingness to learn’ was an underlying variable
that influenced the different relationships between the three elements, that is, ‘expertise’,
‘familiarity’ and ‘genuineness’. In other words, if library services were willing to change
from adopting a traditional library-based approach that emphasised staff’s professional
knowledge to embracing a community-driven approach that emphasised community
knowledge and moving away from books, they were more likely to increase opportunities
for providing a service that was ‘relevant’ to local communities, which in turn promoted
the ‘sustainability’ of the service (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Underlying Variable: ‘Willingness to Learn’

(‘Belonging’, ‘Genuineness’ and ‘Relevance’ Relationship to ‘Sustainability’)

Influenced by the changing relationship between the three elements, namely ‘expertise’,
‘familiarity’ and ‘genuineness’, was ‘communication’. As evidenced in the three case
studies, the essential element of ‘communication’ was strongly exclusive from ‘expertise’
and ‘familiarity’ in Community Health and Wellbeing in Libraries, but strongly coupled with
‘genuineness’ in both Citizens’ Eye and Project LiRA. An examination of the dynamic of the
relationship between those elements observed the fundamental differences in attitudes,
actions and ways of working that the library had towards CE in the three specific case
studies.

Therefore, the library’s ‘willingness to learn’ conditioned whether it emphasised

professional knowledge or embraced community knowledge in the service planning
process, which implied different forms of CE. For example, if the library embraced
community knowledge, it implied taking on new knowledge requiring two-way
‘communication’ with local communities in the service planning, which helped achieve the
‘sustainability’ of the CE process. However, if the library emphasised professional
knowledge, it indicated one-way service planning and delivery, which was done to or for
local communities (Figure 3).

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 Modelling Community Engagement in Public Libraries

Figure 3 Underlying Variable: ‘Willingness to Learn’ (‘Genuineness’

and ‘Communication’ Relationship to ‘Sustainability’)

Also, related to the relationship between ‘expertise’, ‘familiarity’ and ‘genuineness’ was
the essential element of ‘a flexible approach’. All three case studies recognised the diverse
nature of the community that they served and embraced a variety of approaches to
engage with local communities. However, a crucial question was how ‘relevant’ and
‘sustainable’ those approaches were. For example, did the information that was made
available to local communities really reach them? Were those approaches used as a one-
off for the duration of the project or over a longer period of time?

Therefore, the library’s ‘willingness to learn’ indicated a factor for a positive outcome of
the CE process. For example, a shift from a project-orientated and library-centred service
planning process to putting community relevance and long-term sustainability at the heart
of the service planning required ‘willingness to learn’ from the service in terms of their
attitudes, actions and ways of working towards CE (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Underlying Variable: ‘Willingness to Learn’ (‘Genuineness’, ‘a Flexible

Approach’ and ‘Relevance’ Relationship to ‘Sustainability’)

A Model of Essential Elements of Community Engagement in Public Libraries

The lessons learnt from this research included the identification of essential elements of CE
in the three case studies. It was found that two key underlying variables, namely ‘influence
of authority’ and ‘willingness to learn’, influenced the form of CE, which in turn brought
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Sung, H.Y. and Hepworth, M.

about different outcomes and impact. In terms of ‘influence of authority’, with long-term
vision, ‘belonging’ was an important element for change, but ‘accountability’ and
‘hierarchy’ imposed from outside conflicted with the ethos of engagement from below. In
terms of the library’s ‘willingness to learn’, for real impact, ‘genuineness’ was a significant
element for change, but ‘expertise’ and ‘familiarity’ constrained a direct and community-
related process of engagement.

Clearly ‘accountability’ was significant to all three selected public libraries, because library
services, provided by the public sector, had the accountability to fulfil its statutory duties3.
Although ‘accountability’ was not emphasized as an essential element of CE in some
individual cases, it was undeniable that ‘accountability’ had overriding influence of the CE
process, as evidenced in all three case studies. While ‘hierarchy’, ‘expertise’ and
‘familiarity’ were considered to be important in some individual cases, the common
themes that emerged as essential elements of genuine CE were: ‘accountability’,
‘belonging’, ‘commitment’, ‘communication’, ‘a flexible approach’, ‘genuineness’,
‘relevance’ and ‘sustainability’ (see Figure 5). All eight elements for CE did not exist alone
but were strongly interrelated and influenced each other.

Figure 5: A Model of Essential Elements of Community Engagement in Public Libraries

DISCUSSION

This research identified eight essential elements of CE, that is, ‘accountability’, ‘belonging’,
‘commitment’, ‘communication’, ‘a flexible approach’, ‘genuineness’, ‘relevance’ and
‘sustainability’. It also found two key underlying variables in the CE process, that is,
'influence of authority' and 'willingness to learn'.

Like the majority of the CE models in the literature, including the LFF Civic Library Model
(Schull 2004); Key Aspects of Community Engagement in Public Libraries (CSV Consulting
2006); Key Purpose and Elements of Community Engagement Practice (Scottish Community
Development Centre 2007); Ingredients for Engagement (Ipsos MORI 2006), ‘community

3
Local authorities, or collectively local government, have a statutory duty to provide public library
services in England, Wales and Scotland (Goulding 2006).
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 Modelling Community Engagement in Public Libraries

involvement’ and ‘partnership working’ were identified as two key ingredients in the CE
process in this research. However, these strands did not stand alone but were
interconnected and dependent on other essential elements in the model that was
developed based on this research. For instance, ‘a flexible approach’ indicated the need for
a flexible and adaptive approach in the methods of working with partnership organisations
and engaging with local communities.

However, the researchers noticed that some of the CE models in the literature placed
emphasis on the service-led nature of CE. For example, Ipsos MORI’s model (2006) placed
‘money/resources’ at the heart of CE and identified ‘leadership/champion’ a core
ingredient for engagement. In Scottish Community Development Centre’s model (2007),
‘being a leader and encouraging leadership’ was regarded as one of the developmental
elements of CE practice. In contrast to these models, the model that was developed in this
research recognised the importance of the community-driven feature in the CE process,
which was more likely to reflect the ethos of genuine engagement. In this respect,
‘belonging’ reflected a community-driven and bottom-up approach in the CE process.

Furthermore, the natural and organic development is also different from a ladder or a
spectrum of the engagement process, as proposed in Arnstein’s (1969) Ladder of
Participation; Wilcox's (1994) Framework of Participation; and the IAP2 Spectrum of public
participation (International Association of Public Participation, 2007), which were then
translated into the Duty to Involve act for all public authorities in England. The act provides
guidelines for public authorities on how they could practically engage with local
communities. However, the researchers argued that following a spectrum of engagement
from informing, consulting to involving, or even empowering, conflicts with the idea of an
organic development of CE. The organic dimension was actually identified as being a
critical aspect. In addition, this kind of engagement did not explicitly recognise
engagement as stemming from the community. However, communities were seen to have
the capacity to autonomously run and sustain the engagement process.

CONCLUSIONS

It was identified that little systematic research has examined the CE process in the context
of public library services. To the end, the significance of this research was the identification,
based on empirical data, of arguably the essential elements of CE in public libraries. The
model that was developed in this research highlighted elements for CE that were grounded
in the reality and perceptions of the community and the participants including the library
rather than only from an institutional perspective. It also appreciated the community’s
capacity to initiate, run and sustain CE practice, which reflects the ethos of genuine CE.

Key implications from the model in Figure 5, as to how the research findings may be used
to improve CE, included:
a) This research found that ‘influence of authority’ had a fundamental impact on CE and
suggested an emphasis on community ownership and community leadership in the CE
process.
b) This research found that the service’s ‘willingness to learn’ had a fundamental impact
on CE and highlighted the importance of being open to new ideas and embracing a
participatory, collaborative approach to work with the community and partnership
organizations.

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Sung, H.Y. and Hepworth, M.

Findings of this research evidenced how CE was implemented differently in different

projects, bringing about different outcomes. In this respect, it is suggested that a radical
shift, for instance from service-led to community-driven, is required in order to conduct
genuine CE. In addition, this research recognises, instead of focusing on formalising the
engagement process, the natural and organic development of the CE process, which
significantly depends on the input of the community. In other words, this research suggests
a community-driven and organic form of CE.

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