Public librarians work with a focus on digital participation

The development of digitalisation in society has contributed to the library facing new assignments in the work with digital participation. The demand for digital competence among library staff is increasing in order to pursue digital inclusion at the library. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the public library works with digital participation for library visitors and how staff works with digital participation. This essay examines librarians at selected municipal public libraries in Skåne country. The aim is to gain clarity on the competencies available at the public library and what conditions the public libraries possess. This study explores the possible challenges perceived by library employees in relation to their work with digital participation. In the study, we used a qualitative method using semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the results was done with the help of two theories and earlier research. The findings of studies show that all public libraries in some way work with digital participation. We can see that all the library staff are positive about working with digital participation and feel that they have the necessary competence. There are some challenges such as prerequisites, resources, the consensus on digital participation and skills development.