Access Over Ownership: Case Studies of Libraries of Things

Denise Baden, Ken Peattie and Adekunle Oke
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Denise Baden: Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Ken Peattie: Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK
Adekunle Oke: Aberdeen Business School, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7QE, UK

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-18

Abstract: Over the last decade there has been increasing interest in the concept of the sharing economy, which replaces the focus on individual ownership with a focus on access to goods and services through borrowing, hiring or sharing. This study investigates the efficacy of extending the library concept to include more items, such as those that are used infrequently. The aim is to explore how Libraries of Things (LoTs) operate and the potential to broaden their appeal, reach and sustainability. This study adopts a multiple case study method to provide a snapshot of six LoTs in the UK. Findings indicate that all LoTs shared common environmental and social values, with the most prevalent values being to use the library concept to reduce resource use and waste and to enable more equitable access to goods. All relied on volunteers and public support, in the form of free or discounted space and none were yet economically self-sufficient. This poses important questions about the future for LoTs and whether they could or even should, transition towards the mainstream to make a more substantive contribution to creating a more socially equitable and environmentally sustainable economy.

Keywords: access-based consumption; circular economy; collaborative consumption; library of things; product service systems; sharing economy; sustainable business models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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