Professional identity enacted at public library: Implications for the organization in the context of digitalization

Abstract: Organizational identity has been mostly researched through a managerial perspective, where employees are given a secondary role. This thesis approaches identity from a dynamic perspective and explores how librarian identity is enacted in daily interactions between librarians and patrons, whilst considering any implications for the organization. The research focuses on a single case where participant observations and online observations are conducted. Goffman’s theory of self-presentation and the framework of the organizations’ communicational constitution are used to analyze the phenomenon in question. Several roles enacted by librarians have been identified: the Informer, the Personal Assistant, the Guard, and the Buddy, followed by their descriptions and analysis. The implications of the roles enacted by the librarians to the organization are then discussed. This study shows that employee identity is enacted in daily interactions through different roles, and these roles correspond to the different facets of organizational identity. The findings of the thesis also suggest that organizational identity is influenced by the identities of its employees enacted in daily interactions with other organizational members and external stakeholders.