Community, complexity, the public library and community orientation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a model of the complexity in public libraries based on a case study of Cumbria Libraries, a public library service in the North West of England. The model illustrates the complexity of the library as a societal organisation with multiple stakeholder perspectives. The model is based on community orientation as a form of market orientation, in combination with other multiple strategic orientations that combine to add value for stakeholders within the community.