Ska det vara böcker eller upplevelser på stadsbiblioteket? : En diskursanalytisk studie kring debatten om The Darling Library - projektet på Malmö stadsbibliotek

This bachelor thesis explores what has been said about The Darling Library-project on The City Library of Malmö between 2009-2012. In 2009 The City Library of Malmö came up with a new strategic plan on how to further develop the organization of The City Library called The Darling Library - your life, your dreams, your library. This led to a debate on what the purpose of The City Library of Malmö should be. Should the library be primary about books and literature or should the library act as a meeting place in our multicultural society?This thesis examines different conceptions people have about The City Library of Malmö in newspaper articles published between 2009-2012. To analyze the empirical material, discourse analysis developed by Ernest Laclau and Chantal Mouffe have been used, along with a model developed by Åse Hedemark. The findings shows three different discourses: “The traditional discourse”, where books and literature is the core of the library, “The discourse of the future” where the physical library should work as a meeting place filled with activities and experiences, and “The mix discourse” where the library is a mix of these two. The discourses show a complex and varied image and there is a slight ambiguity about what the purpose The City Library of Malmö should be