The study of culture is specifically relevant to libraries confronting changes. A variety of conditions makes it beneficial for libraries to understand the strengths as well as the weaknesses of the underlying culture. Such an understanding can help libraries in adjusting to changes easier, without losing the cultural values that they hold important to their identity and strategic strengths.
Taking this as a starting point the purpose of this essay is to examine and describe what aspects in prevailing library cultures are important to pay attention to when meeting changes. To accomplish this we will explore the concept of library culture, its substance, meaning and expression.
Culture is reflected in the artifacts, values and underlying assumptions of formal and informal groups. Culture can be found at various levels. We define library culture as fundamental characteristics that are common within the library profession. In order to distinguish and explore cultural characteristics we performed a qualitative study at the academic libraries Beijersbiblioteket and Medioteket at Malmö University. The study was conducted through interviews with the staff at the libraries. These libraries are of interest for us since a fusion of these both libraries is due to take place during the summer of 2005. Such a condition represents a great deal of change which we assume will affect the prevailing culture.
The result of the study shows that Beijersbiblioteket and Medioteket have a lot of similar characteristics in their cultures, but at the same time they also have some signs of inequality. One of the cultural distinctions is that Beijersbiblioteket has a formal character whereas Medioteket has a more informal character. To prevent possible problems that might appear due to cultural divergencies we belive that it is of great importance for the staff, as well as the management, to be aware of cultural differences.
Our study also indicates that library culture can exist at different levels. The students within the educations of library and information science accept current values and assumptions within the profession through socialisation. This means that some cultural attributes in general can be seen as common for all librarians and consequently for all libraries. On the other hand some of these values and assumptions will be modified to fit a specific organisation and its purpose. With respect to this library cultures can be found at a comprehensive level as well as at an organisational level.
We believe that the awareness and understanding of organi...
