The Impact of Users’ Perception of Social Responsibility on the Usage of Public Library Services and Resources with the Mediated Role of Perceived Organizational Image

Every organization’s commitment to its social responsibilities is a way to form a positive mental image among its audience that can affect their attitude towards using of the organization’s services. In the present era, despite the various media with diverse capabilities in the field of providing and disseminating of information, the field of information is experiencing intense competition, and this competition has affected the survival of libraries as a cultural institution with a long history. Therefore, public libraries need to take on social responsibilities to ensure their survival. Accordingly, the present study seeks to determine the impact of users’ perceptions of social responsibility on usage of public library services and resources usage through the perceived organizational image.

This is an applied research that was conducted by using a survey-correlation method with a causal approach. The study population consisted of 119,409 members of Khuzestan public libraries, 383 samples of whom were selected by stratified sampling. Data were collected using a 40-item questionnaire in a five-point Likert scale based on the previous studies such as Becker-Olsen, Cudmore and Hill (2006) and Perez and Torres (2017) and a researcher-made one based on Kamali (2019) research for the usage rate section. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using the composite reliability coefficient of Dillon-Goldstein (CR) average variance extracted (AVE) and Cronbach’s alpha and its divergent validity was determined by the HTMT matrix method and the average variance extracted (AVE) measure. After distributing the questionnaires, 345 items (return rate = 90%) were returned and then the data analysis was performed using SPSS25 and Smart-PLS3 software.

The results showed that the level of research variables is higher than the theoretical average (3), which is relatively desirable (mean of the users’ perception of social responsibility = 4.02, mean of use services and resources = 3.4, and mean of the perceived organizational image = 3.89). Furthermore, the impact of users’ perception of social responsibility on the usage of public library services and resources (T-Value = 2.945) and perceived organizational image (T-Value = 25.407) is significant at a lower level than 0.05.

Originality/value:

 The findings of the study showed that the more users understand the social responsibility of public libraries, the more they use the services and information resources of libraries. In addition, the adherence of libraries to social responsibility also led to the formation of a constructive and positive image. For this reason, the studied variables can be taken into account by policy makers and managers in developing organizational strategies.