Stimulators and barriers towards social innovations in public libraries: Qualitative research study

Public libraries have a huge potential to be creators and facilitators of social innovation in communities and society. Qualitative research based on interviews with 27 librarians showed that social innovation in libraries can take the form of educational and cultural activities, leisure and networking activities and social support services. The main goal of the research was to find out what factors support and make these innovations difficult in public libraries. A four-layer model of barriers and stimulators for social innovation is presented, which includes structural, local, organizational and personnel levels. The model could serve to inform librarians, their stakeholders and governments about all levels of barriers and stimulators connected to innovation of library services and social re-positioning of public libraries in the future.