Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Third Place Libraries As A Space For Intercultural Participation: A Dynamic Learning Model For Creating Culturally Safe Environments, Marie D. Martel, Bob White

New Librarianship Symposia Series: Fall 2021

One of the main sources for re-conceptualizing the model of libraries, especially public libraries, as third places remains Robert Putnam in Better Together (2005) based on his work in Chicago Public Libraries, which he described as the "New Third Places". But what was new here when Putnam spoke of these "New Third Places"? He was then referring to the new context of diversity, and even super-diversity (Vertovec 2007), characteristic of our current societies. According to Putnam, the library as this "New Third Place" appears as a response to this problem of social distance and unease because it has this capacity …