The search for an identity : A discourse analytical study of how Göteborg city library constructs itself in the public sphere.

The institutional identity of libraries have been the subject of discussion for quite some time in the library community. With the renovation of several city libraries comes the opportunity to investigate the impact of this discussion on the practices of real public libraries. This Bachelor thesis investigates the program guide of Göteborg city library since its reopening in 2014 with the goal of extracting some sort of library identity. The thesis uses a discourse analytical approach to investigate the various types of discourse present in the material to extract an identity. The most prominent discourses present in the material are the educational discourse and the discourse of cultivation where the discourse of cultivation is the most dominant one. The discourse of cultivation motivates its activities through recreational aspects while the discourse of education motivates its activities by highlighting the use-value of attending its activities. The study finds that Göteborg city library presents itself as a cultural institution that ―sells‖ the service of cultivation, this is, however, not without problems and occasionally clashes with either the missions given to the library or the perceptions of the public