{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T04:35:31Z","timestamp":1772771731922,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,4]],"date-time":"2009-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1252022400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to show why studies of public libraries, regarding their possible contribution in creating social capital, are important for social capital research in general, and are important for library practice in particular.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>Building on the latest theoretical developments and empirical findings of social capital research, the role of the public library as a potential creator of social capital is discussed. Findings from both quantitative and qualitative empirical research are discussed, and also the need for further studies is presented.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>The paper reports quantitative macro\u2010level results concerning whether public library expenditure can contribute in explaining social trust patterns in the OECD countries. However, to be able to ascertain this, numerous qualitative studies revealing the mechanisms actually generating generalized trust are needed. Preliminary qualitative interviews suggest that this approach can prove fruitful.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Research limitations\/implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The implications for further research into public libraries and the building of generalized trust are twofold: one the one hand, more specific research questions on the role libraries can be asked regarding accommodating diversity and increasing trust among diverse groups, e.g. immigrants. On the other hand, the suitability of the public library for investigating these questions makes the results relevant for social capital research in general.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title><jats:p>The library profession points to the importance of libraries for social capital and maintain that libraries have been overlooked in this matter. Strong sentiments like this should be ideal for implementation of research based library policies, strategies and activities for creating social capital.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>What is new in this research is that studies of public libraries may contribute in resolving the impasse within contemporary social capital research where neither institutional nor societal perspectives seem to be able to verify how social capital is created.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/07378830910988504","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,10,5]],"date-time":"2009-10-05T11:07:44Z","timestamp":1254740864000},"page":"372-381","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":51,"title":["Public libraries: places creating social capital?"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"27","author":[{"given":"Andreas","family":"V\u00e5rheim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alesina, A. and La Ferrara, E. (2000), \u201cParticipation in heterogeneous communities\u201d, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 115 No. 3, pp. 847\u2010904.","DOI":"10.1162\/003355300554935"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alesina, A. and La Ferrara, E. (2002), \u201cWho trusts others?\u201d, Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 85 No. 2, pp. 207\u201034.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0047-2727(01)00084-6"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b1","unstructured":"Audunson, R.A. (1996), \u201cChange processes in public libraries: a comparative project within an institutionalist perspective\u201d, doctoral thesis, University of Oslo, Oslo."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Audunson, R.A. (2005), \u201cThe public library as a meeting\u2010place in a multicultural and digital context: the necessity of low\u2010intensive meeting\u2010places\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 61 No. 3, pp. 429\u201041.","DOI":"10.1108\/00220410510598562"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b3","unstructured":"Audunson, R.A., V\u00e5rheim, A., Aab\u00f8, S. and Holm, E.D. (2007), \u201cPublic libraries, social capital, and low intensive meeting places\u201d, Information Research, Vol. 12 No. 4, available at: http:\/\/informationr.net\/ir\/12\u20104\/colis\/colis20.html (accessed 17 October 2007)."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bj\u00f8rnskov, C. (2006), \u201cDeterminants of generalized trust: a cross\u2010country comparison\u201d, Public Choice, Vol. 130 No. 1, pp. 1\u201021.","DOI":"10.1007\/s11127-006-9069-1"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b5","unstructured":"Bourdieu, P. (1986), \u201cThe forms of capital\u201d, in Richardson, J. (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, Greenwood Press, New York, NY, pp. 241\u201058."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Caidi, N. and Allard, D. (2005), \u201cSocial inclusion of newcomers to Canada: an information problem?\u201d, Library & Information Science Research, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 302\u201024.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lisr.2005.04.003"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, J. and Lu, C. (2007), \u201cSocial capital in urban China: attitudinal and behavioral effects on grassroots self\u2010government\u201d, Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 88 No. 2, pp. 422\u201042.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-6237.2007.00465.x"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Coffe, H. and Geys, B. (2006), \u201cCommunity heterogeneity: a burden for the creation of social capital?\u201d, Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 87 No. 5, pp. 1053\u201072.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-6237.2006.00415.x"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Costa, D.L. and Kahn, M.E. (2003), \u201cUnderstanding the American decline in social capital, 1952\u20101998\u201d, Kyklos, Vol. 56 No. 1, pp. 17\u201046.","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-6435.00208"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b8","unstructured":"Coleman, J.S. (1990), Foundations of Social Theory, Belknap Press, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b9","unstructured":"Coleman, J.S. (1994), \u201cA rational choice perspective on economic sociology\u201d, in Smelser, N.J. and Swedberg, R. (Eds), The Handbook of Economic Sociology, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ and Russell Sage Foundation, New York, NY, pp. 166\u201080."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b10","unstructured":"Cook, K.S., Hardin, R. and Levi, M. (2005), Cooperation without Trust?, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b11","unstructured":"Cyert, R.M. and March, J.G. (1963), A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Prentice\u2010Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Delhey, J. and Newton, K. (2005), \u201cPredicting cross\u2010national levels of social trust: global pattern or Nordic exceptionalism?\u201d, European Sociological Review, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 311\u201027.","DOI":"10.1093\/esr\/jci022"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b13","unstructured":"DiMaggio, P.J. and Powell, W.W. (Eds) (1991), The New Institutionalism in Organizational Analysis, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elbeshausen, H. and Skov, P. (2004), \u201cPublic libraries in a multicultural space: a case study of integration processes in local communities\u201d, New Library World, Vol. 105 Nos 3\/4, pp. 131\u201041.","DOI":"10.1108\/03074800410526767"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Granovetter, M.S. (1985), \u201cEconomic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness\u201d, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 91 No. 3, pp. 481\u2010510.","DOI":"10.1086\/228311"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b16","unstructured":"Hillenbrand, C. (2005), \u201cA place for all: social capital at the Mount Barker Community library, South Australia\u201d, Australasian Public Libraries and Information Services, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 41\u201058."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hutchinson, J. and Vidal, A.C. (2004), \u201cUsing social capital to help integrate planning theory, research, and practice\u201d, Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 70 No. 2, pp. 142\u201092.","DOI":"10.1080\/01944360408976369"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kumlin, S. and Rothstein, B. (2005), \u201cMaking and breaking social capital: the impact of welfare\u2010state institutions\u201d, Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 339\u201065.","DOI":"10.1177\/0010414004273203"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b19","unstructured":"March, J.G. and Olsen, J.P. (Eds) (1976), Ambiguity and Choice in Organizations, Universitetsforlaget, Bergen."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b20","unstructured":"March, J.G. and Olsen, J.P. (1989), Rediscovering Institutions. The Organizational Basis of Politics, The Free Press, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b21","unstructured":"March, J.G. and Simon, H.A. (1958), Organizations, Wiley, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Marschall, M.J. and Stolle, D. (2004), \u201cRace and the city: neighborhood context and the development of generalized trust\u201d, Political Behavior, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 125\u201053.","DOI":"10.1023\/B:POBE.0000035960.73204.64"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b55","unstructured":"Marschall, M.J. and Stolle, D. (2005), \u201cSeeing or living diversity: contact with diverse others and the development of generalized trust\u201d, CPSA Annual Conference, London, Ontario, available at: www.cpsa\u2010acsp.ca\/template_e.cfm?folder=conference&page_name=agm\u2010papers\u20102005.htm."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b22","unstructured":"Meyer, J.W. and Scott, W.R. (1983), Organizational Environments, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pettigrew, T.F. (1998), \u201cIntergroup contact theory\u201d, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 49, pp. 65\u201085.","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.49.1.65"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnam, R.D. (1993), Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400820740"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnam, R.D. (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.","DOI":"10.1145\/358916.361990"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnam, R.D. (2004), \u201cHealth by association? Social capital, social theory, and the political economy of public health \u2013 commentary: \u2018Health by association\u2019: some comments\u201d, International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 667\u201071.","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyh013"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Putnam, R.D. (2007), \u201cE Pluribus Unum: diversity and community in the twenty\u2010first century. The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture\u201d, Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 137\u201074.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9477.2007.00176.x"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b28","unstructured":"Putnam, R.D., Feldstein, L.M. and Cohen, D. (2003), Better Together: Restoring the American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rothstein, B. and Stolle, D. (2003), \u201cSocial capital, impartiality and the welfare state: an institutional approach\u201d, in Hooghe, M. and Stolle, D. (Eds), Generating Social Capital: Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY, pp. 191\u2010210.","DOI":"10.1057\/9781403979544_10"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rothstein, B. and Stolle, D. (2008), \u201cThe state and social capital \u2013 an institutional theory of generalized trust\u201d, Comparative Politics, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 441\u201059.","DOI":"10.5129\/001041508X12911362383354"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Rothstein, B. and Uslaner, E.M. (2005), \u201cAll for all: equality, corruption, and social trust\u201d, World Politics, Vol. 58 No. 1, pp. 41\u201072.","DOI":"10.1353\/wp.2006.0022"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b32","unstructured":"Simon, H.A. (1947), Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision\u2010making Processes in Administrative Organization, The Macmillan Company, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Steinmo, S., Thelen, K. and Longstreth, F. (Eds) (1992), Structuring Politics: Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511528125"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Stolle, D. (2003), \u201cThe sources of social capital\u201d, in Hooghe, M. and Stolle, D. (Eds), Generating Social Capital: Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY, pp. 19\u201042.","DOI":"10.1057\/9781403979544_2"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b56","unstructured":"Stolle, D., Soroka, S. and Johnston, R. (2005), \u201cHow diversity affects attitudinal social capital: a US\u2010Canada comparison\u201d, available at: http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20060509050049\/http:\/\/www.profs\u2010polisci.mcgill.ca\/stolle\/LatestNews.php."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Thelen, K.A. (2004), How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511790997"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Uslaner, E.M. (2002), The Moral Foundations of Trust, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.824504"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Uslaner, E.M. (2006), \u201cDoes diversity drive down trust?\u201d, available at: http:\/\/ssrn.com\/abstract=903051.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.903051"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"V\u00e5rheim, A. (2007a), \u201cSocial capital and public libraries: the need for research\u201d, Library & Information Science Research, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 416\u201028.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lisr.2007.04.009"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b39","unstructured":"V\u00e5rheim, A. (2007b), \u201cSocial capital and the multiethnic challenge: the role of the public library\u201d, in Sharma, R. (Ed.), Social Capital: An Introduction, ICFAI University Press, Hyderabad, pp. 100\u201010."},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"V\u00e5rheim, A., Steinmo, S. and Ide, E. (2008), \u201cDo libraries matter? Public libraries and the creation of social capital\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 64 No. 6.","DOI":"10.1108\/00220410810912433"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wakefield, S.E.L. and Poland, B. (2005), \u201cFamily, friend or foe? Critical reflections on the relevance and role of social capital in health promotion and community development\u201d, Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 60 No. 12, pp. 2819\u201032.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2004.11.012"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wolleb\u00e6k, D. and Selle, P. (2007), \u201cOrigins of social capital: socialization and institutionalization approaches compared\u201d, Journal of Civil Society, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 1\u201024.","DOI":"10.1080\/17448680701390638"},{"key":"key2022021120342915800_b43","unstructured":"World Values Survey (2006), \u201cEuropean and world values surveys four\u2010wave integrated data file, 1981\u20102004\u201d, available at: www.jdsurvey.net:8080\/bdasepjds\/wvsevs (accessed 29 October 2006)."}],"container-title":["Library Hi Tech"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/07378830910988504","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/07378830910988504\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/07378830910988504\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T23:33:34Z","timestamp":1753400014000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/lht\/article\/27\/3\/372-381\/263900"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,4]]},"references-count":50,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,4]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/07378830910988504"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/07378830910988504","relation":{},"ISSN":["0737-8831"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0737-8831","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,9,4]]}}}