Ett öppet fönster : en studie av lokalsamhällets betydelse för biblioteksverksamheten

Sammanfattning: The aim with this Master’s thesis is to analyze how small scale libraries works to relate to, and meditate with, the local community. By studying four different public libraries we have gained knowledge in which different ways todays public libraries communicate with their surrounded community. By the process of interviews with local politicians, librarians and heads of libraries we have managed to map the specific prerequisite for each library and how they relate to these conditions. We found that all libraries tries to be a central part of their local communities’ and to meet its needs of culture, information, knowledge and to function as a social meeting place. Whether or not a library suceeds with its ambitons, varies with the grade of adaptation to its surroundings, and the meeting of its needs. We believe that a proactive library who act for a broaden mass-education, local democracy and as a accommodator of local culture and democracy, has more potential in becoming a central element in its local community, than the ones who do not.