Libraries, sustainability and sustainable development: a review of the research literature
ISSN: 0022-0418
Article publication date: 23 March 2022
Issue publication date: 4 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this literature review is to provide an overview of and insights into a selected bibliography of 102 research publications on libraries – of all types – sustainability and sustainable development, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Design/methodology/approach
The review procedure is inspired by the hermeneutic literature review method, referring to a circular process of searching, sorting, selecting, acquiring, reading, identifying and refining. The publications are mapped to provide an overview of the research field. Following the research mapping, all publications are categorized as either environmental, economic, social, cultural or holistic according to their usage and understanding of the core concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. Finally, the main rationales behind the core concepts are identified, and their possible implications on the role of libraries and librarians are discussed.
Findings
Of the 102 research publications, 45 are categorized as environmental, 9 as economic, 9 as social, 3 as cultural and 36 as holistic. The main rationales identified across these categories are optimization, legitimation, demonstration and transformation. The possible implications behind these rationales are that libraries and librarians should be resourceful, explicit about their motivations, serve as good examples and act as change agents. Increasingly, libraries and librarians are expected to act proactively in relation to the global sustainability agenda.
Originality/value
This literature review provides a unique overview of and insights into an emerging research field, which are needed for future research and discussion about the potentiality of libraries and librarians in solving global sustainability challenges.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This literature review has been written as part of the research project UPSCALE: Upscaling sustainable collaborative consumption using public libraries, funded by the Norwegian Research Council. The authors would like to thank their colleagues in the UPSCALE project, Professor Marit Aure, Professor Anniken Førde and PhD Fellow Espen Barratt-Due Solum, for their helpful feedback and critical comments on an earlier draft of this paper. In addition, the authors would like to pay gratitude to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism and valuable recommendations that helped improve the final version of this literature review.
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Mia Høj Mathiasson and Henrik Jochumsen, “Libraries, sustainability and sustainable development: a review of the research literature”, published in Journal of Documentation, Volume 78, Issue 6, included an incorrect reference to the article, F.C. Mbagwu, M. Lyaka, J.E. Kiwelu, L. Nyantakyi-Baah, and M. Holmner. “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals Two and Three: Role of Academic Libraries” (2020). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). 3995. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any inconvenience caused.
Citation
Mathiasson, M.H. and Jochumsen, H. (2022), "Libraries, sustainability and sustainable development: a review of the research literature", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 78 No. 6, pp. 1278-1304. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-11-2021-0226
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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