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Abstract

Building Bridges: The Reference Interview as a Mechanism for Social Capital in School Libraries

Abstract

School librarians occupy a unique position within schools, interacting across all stakeholder groups and serving as a conduit between students, teachers, administrators, and the broader learning community. This article examines the reference interview not merely as a transactional information-retrieval tool but as a relational practice through which school librarians generate, sustain, and distribute social capital. Drawing on the foundational theories of Putnam (2000), Coleman (1988), and Bourdieu (1986), and on the reference transaction model grounded in Jesse H. Shera's foundational work (Coleman et al., 2015; Prabha et al., 2019), this article argues that each component of the reference interview, from approachability and open-ended questioning to follow-up and search evaluation, corresponds to interactions through which trust, reciprocity, and network connections are built over time. The article further explores stakeholder-specific dynamics, equity implications, and practical recommendations for school librarians seeking to maximize the social capital value of their reference practice. Together, these arguments position the school library reference encounter as one of the most consequential and undertheorized sites of social capital production in PK-12 education.

Keywords: reference interview, social capital, school librarianship, reference

transaction, information literacy, trust, stakeholder relationships

Article History

Article History:
Submitted: May 19 2026
Revised: 
Peer-Reviewed and Approved: June 15, 2026
Published Online: June 23, 2026

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