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PurposePublic libraries' relevance and raison d'être towards society is an often discussed subject within public, politics and research. The objective of this systematic literature review is to provide a synthesis of empirical studies of stakeholders' perceived values of public libraries.Design/methodology/approachThe review is based on a structured literature search that was conducted in seven databases. Two independent participants carried out a two-step screening of the identified studies. Firstly, the studies were screened on basis of title and abstract. Secondly, studies that were included in the title–abstract screening were full-text screened. Conflicting studies were discussed, and consensus between the reviewers was reached. Citation searches of each included study were conducted along with scrutinising cited literature. The included studies were subject to a risk of bias assessment on basis of a developed risk of the bias tool, and qualitative analysis was provided.FindingsOf all, 4,086 studies were screened and 19 were retained for the review. The studies consisted of both quantitative and qualitative investigations of different stakeholders in a variety of countries. The reported values varied across the studies and stakeholders.Originality/valueThis is the first study that systematically reviews empirical literature that explores stakeholders' perceived values of public libraries. The paper suggests further recommendations for empirical research of values connected to public libraries.

Introduction. Academic libraries increasingly need to justify their contributions to their funding institution. Data on the impact and value of the library serves to render libraries' value visible. This review explores how funding institutions, the public, users and staff perceive the value of the academic library. Method. Scopus, Library and Information Science Abstracts, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global were used as data sources for the comprehensive search strategy. Analysis. Study selection was done independently by two reviewers. Risk of bias criteria as well as a data extraction form was developed. Evaluation and data extraction were done by the first author and confirmed by the second author. Results. The included studies use quantitative as well as qualitative methods. They focus on varying groups (e.g., international students, librarians, faculty members) from institutions all over the world (e.g., United States, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom). Conclusions. A number of facets of values are identified and they can be described as input (resources, space and staff) and services. Furthermore, a number of the facets indicate that the values of academic libraries are not solely understood by their input and services.

PurposeLibraries are increasingly trying to communicate the library's contributions and telling the library stories. Stories can be a component of impact assessment and thus add nuance to an assessment. Evaluations of libraries can include collecting and presenting stories of change, which can serve as evidence in impact assessments. The narrative field allows for many different approaches to a narrative perspective in the study of libraries, but the existing literature provides little overview of these studies. The purpose of this study is to introduce the narrative field and present a systematic review of the existing studies of libraries that use narrative approaches.Design/methodology/approachThe methods in this study comprise of a systematic review of publications reporting narrative approaches to studying libraries. To retrieve the relevant studies, Library and Information Science Abstracts, Scopus, Web of Science and Proquest Dissertation were searched. Furthermore, the authors examined reference lists and performed citation searches. Study selection was performed by two reviewers independently. Using designed templates, data from the included studies were extracted by one author and confirmed by another.FindingsThe database searches retrieved 2,096 records across the four databases which were screened in two steps, resulting in 35 included studies. The authors identify studies that introduce narrative enquiries in library studies as well as studies using narrative approaches to the study of libraries.Originality/valueExploring narratives and stories for understanding and evaluating the library's worth is a promising field. More work is needed, though, to develop theoretical and methodological frameworks. Several of the included studies can serve as examples of the potential of a narrative perspective in the study of libraries.

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