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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Libraries As Pluralistic Public Spheres: Acknowledging Conflict To Promote Democratic Discourse, Lisa Engström
Libraries As Pluralistic Public Spheres: Acknowledging Conflict To Promote Democratic Discourse, Lisa Engström
New Librarianship Symposia Series: Fall 2021
In library policies and library and information studies Habermas concept of public sphere is often used to highlight the public library as a place promoting democracy and inclusion by enabling interpersonal meetings between people with different lifestyles and background. Libraries are then conceived as accessible to all bridging social, economic, and cultural gaps, and promoting a perception of shared values between users (Aabø et al. 2010). I argue that vulnerable and excluded groups thereby may be hindered to form their own identity and to make their voices heard.
Accessibility and participation are core concepts when analysing libraries democratic potential. However, …
Back To The Future! Library History As Forecast: Discovering Core Concepts Of Librarianship In The Public Library’S Past, Sara Wingate Gray
Back To The Future! Library History As Forecast: Discovering Core Concepts Of Librarianship In The Public Library’S Past, Sara Wingate Gray
New Librarianship Symposia Series: Fall 2021
Back to the Future! Library History as Forecast: Discovering Core Concepts of Librarianship in the Public Library’s Past
UNESCO and IFLA have a longstanding history in influencing librarianship from an international perspective: their joint ‘Public Library Manifesto’ (1994) describes “well-informed citizens”, with the ability to “exercise their democratic rights and to play an active role in society” as “depend[ing] on … free and unlimited access to knowledge, thought, culture and information” (UNESCO/IFLA, 1994). Without such savvy citizenry, the manifesto suggests, “[f]reedom, prosperity and the development of society” as fundamental human values may come to be in flux. Positioning the public …