Conceptualising the learning organisation: creating a maturity framework to develop a shared understanding of the library's role in literacy and learning

Although they sit outside the formal education sector, libraries are intrinsically centres of learning where people can engage with knowledge and ideas and acquire the literacy skills that are essential for active participation in an increasingly digital society. In Australia, National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) has acknowledged the need to not only better understand the general concept of ‘the library as a learning institution’, but also to help the individual NSLA libraries specifically identify their capabilities in this arena. The NSLA Literacy and Learning project aimed to improve the members’ organisational comprehension and practice as learning institutions and to help them conceptualise their ability to deliver literacy and learning programs that will benefit their staff and their communities. The NSLA concept of ‘learning institution’ encompassed the two discrete lenses: the internal lens of the library’s own organisational understanding and practice, and the external lens of the clients who engage in the literacy and learning programs delivered by the library. The ultimate goal was to develop a matrix which could enable libraries to assess their perceived levels of maturity as learning institutions along a continuum of ‘emerging’ to ‘active’ capabilities. The matrix should also serve as a tool for shared understanding about the NSLA’s own strategic directions in the literacy and learning space. This case study documents the evolving process of developing a learning institution maturity framework for libraries that considers individual, team and organisational learning, as well as clients’ interactions with the organisation, with the goal of developing a framework that has the potential to measure the value of learning and growth in both the library’s staff and the library’s communities.