The role of neutrality in public libraries' democratic mission : a discourse analysis of swedish national strategy propositions

Purpose – The notion of neutrality as a core value for public libraries is currently under debate within LIS. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the public libraries' democratic mission is presented in Swedish national library strategy and to examine how different aspects of the mission are affected by notions of neutrality. Design/methodology/approach – The recent proposal for a national strategy for libraries, as well as the previously published draft of the strategy and four referral bodies are examined using discourse analysis. Findings – The findings indicate that the notion of neutrality is widely recognised as a core value for public libraries within the strategic documents analyzed. Ambiguity surrounding the concept is however being manifested in the strategy when notions of libraries' independence, social responsibility and capacity for defending democracy are being expressed as means to attain the goal of democracy. The ambiguity surrounding the concept of neutrality that is present in the text is nevertheless largely unaddressed by the Royal Library of Sweden. Originality/value – This paper is a contribution to the ongoing debate regarding the concept of neutrality and the public libraries' democratic mission. Rather than examining LIS professionals' views on neutrality, this paper addresses the viewpoints expressed on the national strategic level of the swedish library institution, which as of yet rarely have been examined within swedish LIS. Paper type - Bachelor thesis