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Beyond the Books: Culture, value, and why libraries matter
'Libraries are a community's secret weapon in the war against ignorance and isolation. They are also sites of pleasure and entertainment, and of rich cultural experience, knowledge transfer and social connection.'
This exciting and courageous book dares to look beyond economic impact to examine how the State Library of South Australia is valued by individuals and the community. Significantly, it demonstrates the real value of our nation's libraries, museums, archives and galleries, and what we stand to lose when we don't look after them.
This book reveals the vital role libraries and other cultural institutions play in our communities, promoting our civic 'common ground' and preserving our way of life. Bolstered by insights from across the Australian cultural sector, this book addresses what cultural value means to the public today – and what they see as the best return on government spending.
This exciting and courageous book dares to look beyond economic impact to examine how the State Library of South Australia is valued by individuals and the community. Significantly, it demonstrates the real value of our nation's libraries, museums, archives and galleries, and what we stand to lose when we don't look after them.
This book reveals the vital role libraries and other cultural institutions play in our communities, promoting our civic 'common ground' and preserving our way of life. Bolstered by insights from across the Australian cultural sector, this book addresses what cultural value means to the public today – and what they see as the best return on government spending.
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 2025
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December 3, 2025
Beyond the Books is an important text to read for anyone who is interested in or cares about our libraries and our cultural institutions. Using the Library of South Australia as a case study Heather Robinson examines how the library is valued by individuals and the community and asks how can we better measure and articulate the value of cultural institutions.
Beyond the Books contains a treasure trove of insights from qualitative research that build our comprehension of the richness, enduring importance and preciousness of our libraries and cultural institutions, that bring us together as a community and connect us to the past, the present, and make us think about what we will pass on to future generations.
In an environment of budget cuts and numeric, dollar measures of value that often aren’t fit for purpose Beyond the Books offers clear evidence of the importance of our cultural institutions to community members.
This thought provoking book is well worth the exploration.
Beyond the Books contains a treasure trove of insights from qualitative research that build our comprehension of the richness, enduring importance and preciousness of our libraries and cultural institutions, that bring us together as a community and connect us to the past, the present, and make us think about what we will pass on to future generations.
In an environment of budget cuts and numeric, dollar measures of value that often aren’t fit for purpose Beyond the Books offers clear evidence of the importance of our cultural institutions to community members.
This thought provoking book is well worth the exploration.
Displaying 1 of 1 review