Conceptualising the Learning Organisation: Creating a Maturity Framework to Develop a Shared Understanding of the Library’s Role in Literacy and Learning

Abstract

In Australia, National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) hasacknowledged the need to not only better understand the general conceptof `the library as a learning institution', but also to help theindividual NSLA libraries specifically identify their capabilities inthis arena. The NSLA Literacy and Learning project aimed to improve themembers' organisational comprehension and practice as learninginstitutions and to help them conceptualise their ability to deliverliteracy and learning programs that will benefit their staff and theircommunities. The project encompassed the two discrete lenses: theinternal lens of the library's own organisational understanding andpractice, and the external lens of the clients who engage in theliteracy and learning programs delivered by the library.This case study documents the evolving process of developing a learninginstitution maturity framework for libraries that considers individual,team and organisational learning, as well as clients' interactions withthe organisation, with the goal of developing a framework that has thepotential to measure the value of learning and growth in both targetgroups.