Building institutional trust in public libraries through bounded caregiving support and responsibility delegation

Abstract

This study examines how institutional trust is constructed in public libraries through temporary caregiver departure services. Adopting a qualitative single-site case study design, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with parents and field observations conducted in a public library in Taiwan. The study applies thematic analysis to explore how institutional trust develops through everyday interaction and bounded responsibility transfer. The findings indicate that institutional trust emerges gradually through repeated participation, reversible responsibility transfer, and clearly defined service boundaries. Rather than relying on formal institutional expansion, trust is supported by stable institutional roles, predictable procedures, and transparent communication of responsibility. The study contributes to Library and Information Science by demonstrating how micro-level service interactions shape institutional trust and by conceptualizing public libraries as low-intensity support institutions embedded in everyday life. It also provides practical insights into how service design and boundary clarity can enhance public trust in library contexts.