Between professional field norms and environmental change impetuses: A comparative study of change processes in public libraries

Public libraries in all developed countries are facing change and similar challenges, which are related to profound environmental changes such as market orientation and privatization. This study probes the question: Do the established and traditional norms and standards of public librarianship structure the way these challenges are met and coped with, or are these professional standards losing their structuring power? Three metropolitan library systems representing three different levels of environmental turbulence are compared. The main conclusion is that field external, environmental tendencies decide the direction of change. Field norms do, however, count. If overlooked, they form a basis of resistance. The librarians hypothesized to be the defenders of professional values, (i.e., the librarians showing the highest degree of field activity) are more inclined to accept field external changes than their more professionally passive colleagues. The study and its findings may contribute to the arsenal of theoretic approaches within library and information science (LIS) as well as to practical public Library management.