Search results

The purpose of this article is to present a research project on public libraries in urban development focusing on how libraries contribute to culture‐led urban regeneration as icons, placemakers and community vitalization.

The research project is based on case studies of new “cutting‐edge” public libraries in Europe and North America. These case studies have been conducted through analysis of documents, observation and qualitative interviews with key informants.

The article finds that new public libraries have re‐conceptualized their design, brand and functions as an answer to strategies of culture‐led urban regeneration, and at the same time they have actively contributed to urban development by changing the image and identity of urban places, contributing to urban diversity and addressing social and economic problems.

The article provides a framework for development of strategies and legitimization for public libraries and a point of departure for the discussion of the library's contribution to urban development.

This is the first public presentation of the findings of the results of the research project Public Libraries in Urban Development – Creativity, Innovation and Experience outside the Nordic countries.

The aim of this paper is to present a model for the public library created by the authors.

The paper is divided into three parts. The first part emphasizes considerations regarding today's focus on both the virtual and the physical library. The second part describes the four‐space model, including examples of libraries as illustrations of the different spaces and examples of how the model is being used in the Nordic library‐world. The third part pinpoints some critical questions in relation to the model.

The paper shows how the four‐space model has been used in different ways in the Nordic countries since it was presented for the first time in a Danish report on public libraries in 2010.

The four‐space model can be a useful tool in relation to developing, building, designing, arranging and rearranging public libraries. Furthermore the model can be a tool for management and communication in connection with library plans and policy and not least a point of departure for the discussion of the public library's overall role in society.

This is the first time that the space model is presented to the library world outside the Nordic countries in a way where examples, usability and limitations are included.

Studies young user reactions to the 1996 Linköping library fire which destroyed buildings and 150,000 books, and its consequences for education and democracy. Young people from the neighbourhood put up a “billboard for the freedom of speech” outside the library park and children, youths and grown ups attached their notes during the first weeks after the fire. Those notes have been analysed and interpreted as part of a research project studying the effects of the fire and the restoring work. This study aims to understand how young people reacted and expressed their feelings and thoughts regarding the library fire and the temporary break in access to library and information resources. Aims to understand and reveal the meaning the informants express regarding experiences, feelings, reflections and ideas in the situation in which they are acting, by looking for the informants’ own perspectives.

The purpose of this literature review is to provide an overview of and insights into a selected bibliography of 102 research publications on libraries – of all types – sustainability and sustainable development, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The review procedure is inspired by the hermeneutic literature review method, referring to a circular process of searching, sorting, selecting, acquiring, reading, identifying and refining. The publications are mapped to provide an overview of the research field. Following the research mapping, all publications are categorized as either environmental, economic, social, cultural or holistic according to their usage and understanding of the core concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. Finally, the main rationales behind the core concepts are identified, and their possible implications on the role of libraries and librarians are discussed.

Of the 102 research publications, 45 are categorized as environmental, 9 as economic, 9 as social, 3 as cultural and 36 as holistic. The main rationales identified across these categories are optimization, legitimation, demonstration and transformation. The possible implications behind these rationales are that libraries and librarians should be resourceful, explicit about their motivations, serve as good examples and act as change agents. Increasingly, libraries and librarians are expected to act proactively in relation to the global sustainability agenda.

This literature review provides a unique overview of and insights into an emerging research field, which are needed for future research and discussion about the potentiality of libraries and librarians in solving global sustainability challenges.