Service quality, customer satisfaction and innovation in public libraries

Abstract

This study examines the impact of dimensions of service quality on customer satisfaction in public libraries and explores innovation as a potential moderator of this relationship. Using a quantitative design, data were collected using a questionnaire from 250 active users across six public libraries in East Java, Indonesia, and analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Although innovation was initially hypothesised as a moderator, the findings indicated that it functions as a direct predictor of satisfaction rather than as a factor that strengthens the service quality–satisfaction link. Tangibility, Assurance, Empathy and Innovation significantly influenced user satisfaction, whereas Reliability and Responsiveness do not. These findings contribute to the literature on library and information science by demonstrating that innovation operates as a direct determinant of satisfaction, thereby challenging assumptions about its moderating role. In increasingly digital library contexts, users appear to value innovative, user-centred services over traditional reliability and responsiveness indicators. Therefore, libraries should prioritise innovative services, improvements in physical environments and empathetic interactions to enhance user satisfaction.