Affective relationships between users and libraries in times of economic stress
| Published date | 09 March 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-10-2014-0119 |
| Pages | 248-257 |
| Date | 09 March 2015 |
| Author | Angeliki Giannopoulou,Giannis Tsakonas |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,HR in libraries |
Affective relationships between
users and libraries in times
of economic stress
Angeliki Giannopoulou and Giannis Tsakonas
Library & Information Center, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
Abstract
Purpose –Academic libraries are considered as key factors in the educational system of a country
and strong pylons for the economic and societal development. During the current economic recession,
libraries have been struck by severe budget cuts that have forced them to shrink services to the end
users. The purpose of this paper is to measure the opinion of academic libraries users on four main
criteria categories, namely, cost, space and atmosphere, personnel behavior and facilitation of
collaborative work and to reflect the level of affective relationship of users with their libraries.
Design/methodology/approach –The survey followed a quota sampling technique and was
addressed to users of all levels (students, post-graduate, faculty members, etc.) from all academic
libraries across Greece, resulting in 950 questionnaires that were then processed with inferential
statistical methods. The study applies the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) behavioral framework
to measure the opinion of the users on the criteria categories.
Findings –The study provides representative findings from all Greek academic libraries and shows
that libraries are considered as spaces that facilitate pleasant reading and studying, as well as efficient
collaborative work. Library users are in overall satisfied by the personnel behavior and productivity,
but they also believe that there are margins for further improvement of its knowledge, while they think
that the cost of services should be revised and echo the current situation.
Practical implications –The study is primarily a quantitative one and as such it provides the broad
view of the current situation in the country. It focusses on important drivers of the expression of
affective relationships and its findings can be useful to library administrators as it highlights the
effects of economic crisis on key areas of library operation.
Originality/value –It is the first nation-wide user survey that reports findings and recommendations
from a national-wide user-based survey that was conducted in 2012. Previous nation-wide surveys
were mainly addressed to library personnel or limited to specific institutions. The study is also the only
one to the authors’knowledge that applies the S.O.R. framework in the academic library setting.
Keywords Service quality, Service evaluation, Academic libraries, Greek libraries, User satisfaction
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Since 2008 the entire world has entered a whirlwind of economic insecurity. Some
countries had had severe financial problems, but gradually went over them. However,
other remained in a state of recession that has severely affected their population. Greece
is one of these countries that have been gone under a major plan of fiscal adjustment,
mainly translated into austerity measures. Recent statistics show that this plan has
lead to a decrease of the average income by 40-50 percent and to an increase of the
official unemployment rate to 27 percent of the population, while the Hellenic Statistics
Authority announced that the recession rate in 2013 –the sixth year in a row –was
4.5 percent of the GDP. This is an important hit to the economic activity and the daily
life of the citizens, while its effects run through the entire backbone of the Greek society.
This situation is reflected in the entire educational structure of the country,
which also goes under a major reshape, through the application of reform legislation.
Library Management
Vol. 36 No. 3, 2015
pp. 248-257
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-10-2014-0119
Received 1 October 2014
Revised 1 October 2014
Accepted 1 October 2014
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
248
LM
36,3
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