Bowling Alone in the Library: Building Social Capital on Campus

Abstract

In 2007 the authors read a paper at PCA/ACA exploring the library-as-place movement through the lens of sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s third-place concept, and posited that the academic library can be redefined as a third-place for the campus and surrounding communities. Related to the third-place concept is Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, written by Harvard Professor of Public Policy, Robert Putnam. In this work Putnam provides extensive and compelling statistical evidence supporting his claim that social capital is critical in enabling communities to work together to address shared and individual goals. Putnam demonstrates that communities with high social capital are better educated, healthier, vote more, are more altruistic, and more prosperous than those with weaker social networks. In this thought-piece the authors revisit Oldenburg’s third-place concept using Putnam’s construct to explore how the academic library can conceptualize a methodology of establishing social capital on campus to convincingly advocate for their library and compete for diminishing campus resources.