D2.2 Conceptual framework and model of participatory management and sustainable growth v2.0

This report includes all the theoretical advances that the LibrarIN project has made for the construction of an analytical framework for understanding the process of value co-creation in libraries, shows all the steps taken to develop said framework and demonstrates its applicability, and its relevance when studying innovation in libraries. Likewise, these theoretical advances started in Y1 have now been materialized in papers presented at conferences, one paper published in world-class journal, and inputs to other WPs in the LibrarIN project.

The main outcome of this second year of work is the production of the conceptual framework that explains drivers and enabling factors of the value co-creation process in libraries facing the needs derived from scarce funding, legal obligations, potential over/under-use of their collections, societal detachment, service transformations and evolutions. This conceptual framework is based, on the one hand, on the Kelvin Lancaster’s theory of consumer demand, that identifies a set of ‘service characteristics’ which are delivered to, and consumed by, the end user. On the one hand, on the service dominant logic approach, that considers value as experiential because its creation and assessment is understood from the perspective of individuals. From these two bases, a multi-agent framework was created and takes into account the characteristics of the services as well as the preferences and competencies of users, librarians and policy makers and how these are influenced by the context in which they meet. Furthermore, the multi-agent framework establishes direct and indirect interactions between all the agents inside the library innovation ecosystem.


The outcomes obtained in the second year of the project have been aligned with some of the literature results obtained in year 1 providing inputs for the Y2 generation of this multi-agent framework. For instance, The VTT literature review showed that librarians around the world are currently developing a radically new portfolio of services which reinvented the public library as a place connects, this was confirmed by UAH literature review for the case of academic libraries, showing that libraries offers services in the following fields: Reading and lifelong learning services, community services, health and wellbeing services, creativity services and business and finances services. The framework proposed by LibrarIN project allows us to understand all the variety of services that the different kind of libraries can offer. Based on this service innovation framework a paper just published on Research Policy has been produced.

All the research carried out for the realization of this multiagent framework has had an important impact on other work packages and has allowed joint and collaborative work with them. The conclusions obtained in the first year of work regarding the importance of effective collaboration and strategic partnerships within the world of libraries have been one of the fundamental elements in the creation of the first LibrarIN Policy Brief Sparking Collaboration for Innovation to Tackle Libraries' 21st Century Challenges, as well as in the design of the use cases (WP5). WP2 outcomes have also been under use by the WP3 design of case studies and by WP4 work for the surveys on national, academic and municipal public libraries. All the objectives set for the second year of work have been met.