Institutional theory and its application to library studies. Part 1

Purpose Institutional theory has been applied across the social sciences, providing a framework for understanding the relationships between organisations, social practices and broader cultural forces. This study investigated the extent and ways in which institutional theory has been applied to library studies, and how Scott's 2013 framework can be mapped to the library environment, providing the basis for a rich new theoretical direction for research. Part 1 of this article introduces institutional theory itself and discusses how libraries are referred to as “institutions” in a looser sense that nevertheless sometimes points to their normative and sociocultural nature. It then reports on a review of the ways in which institutional theory has been applied to library studies in the academic literature. Design/methodology/approach The applications of institutional theory in library studies are summarised in the form of a literature review. Findings Institutional theory has only rarely been used to investigate library environments, but those applications that have been reported cover a wide range of library types and a variety of aspects. Most studies applied theories of institutional isomorphism or institutional logics to examine change, or the absence of change, in relation to these aspects, suggesting a promising avenue for future library research. Originality/value The article constitutes the first discussion in the scholarly literature of the application, and applicability, of institutional theory to the study of libraries and their environments.