The public library and the future : a study of the debate in Swedish library press.

This Masters thesis aims at presenting a picture of, and critically examining, the Swedish debate concerning the public library and the future by way of 21 articles in three library periodicals. The questions examined are: -What are the views concerning the future public library in Swedish library press? -What characterizes the debate and why? Theories on political institutions and information society are used and the method is hermeneutic, a type of idea-analysis. The first step in the analysis consists of a categorized presentation of the material. The themes concern the form and content of the library as well as competence and hopes/fears. The analysis reveals the common presence of IT and also democracy as an underlying factor in the debate. It also presents different points of departure and suggests a relation between a distance to the institution and new ideas as well as the suggestions towards change. The debate lack alternative visions as the existing ones generally relate to IT. The focus on IT can be an outcome of the modern western society where new technologies are given high expectations and status. What characterizes the debate in general can be seen in the light of the way institutions function and the different interests of the actors involved. Concerning the future and the public library there is no obvious direction. What will decide the future is determined by which actor/s is/are in charge to make these decisions.Uppsatsnivå: