Conceptualising the Learning Organisation: Creating a Maturity Framework to Develop a Shared Understanding of the Library's Role in Literacy and Learning

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 project 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. 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 target groups.