This article reports conclusions from a three-year research project on Swedish public libraries. The focus of the project is on librarians experience of libraries mission to promote democracy when democratic norms and values are challenged politically by radical right populism. Results of a longitudinal survey point to stability and lack of political interest over time, but increased societal polarization causes several ethical dilemmas for librarians. Examples of illegitimate political influence and librarians adapting to changes in the political climate call for renewed discussions on the professional role and understandings of democracy in library practice.

Introduction. This paper reports initial findings from a research project focusing onhow information activities of the far-right promoting ideologically motivatedpressure and threats against cultural institutions develop, spread and unfold, thelogic governing these attacks and how they affect public libraries and librarians.

Method and analysis. The project employs the theoretical framework of practicetheory and a netnographic approach. The paper outlines the project and reports theoutcomes of a pilot study using data-driven digital methods and content analysis toanalyse digital interactions from a Swedish far-right media outlet.

Results. The findings from the pilot study indicate that online information activitiesof the far-right display a view of public libraries as leftist and as potential threats tothe nation, echoing ethnic nationalism and authoritarian views commonlyassociated with the far-right.

Conclusions. Indications that librarians, as civil servants, are increasingly the targetof ideologically driven threats and antagonisms warrant further scholarly attention.The pilot study reflects how quantitative procedures are necessary for the analysisof large amounts of data, but the functionality of the digital methods need to betested and adjusted according to context, and qualitative approaches are necessaryfor a nuanced and contextual understanding.

Introduction. This paper explores a challenge for any novel digital intervention: the hesitancy or reluctance among the designated user group.Purpose.The overall purpose is to better understand the hesitant reception of digital innovations through a specific case study. The aim is to further our understanding of resistance towards digital innovation as well as reflect upon the pro-innovation bias of digital development projects.Method. Multiple sources were combined: data collected within the case project and conducted document analysis of project documentation.Results.Labor and maintenance were the main reasons behind stakeholder hesitancy, as well as concerns regarding the hosting, funding, and local relevance of the proposed innovation. Conclusion. The assumption that digitization is inherently beneficial shaped the direction of the case project. Yet ongoing cultural changes and current adaptations must be understood to ensure a new digital solution is actually needed. As researchers we must pay enough attention to relevant local conditions by critically engaging with the innovation process of the project itself. This requires looking pass the pro-innovation bias.  

Introduction. This article presents the first results from the LibPrepare research project, which explores how the democratic mission of public libraries is understood, imagined and potentially compromised in times of crisis and war rhetoric. The aim is to gain knowledge of the mechanisms, motives and potential implications of enrolling libraries in Swedish national security policy.

Method. A thematic text analysis is conducted of three sets of policy texts from national government, national library and professional development sources, reviewing libraries’ roles and obligations in times of crisis and war rhetoric.

Analysis. The concepts of new public governance, governmentality and exceptionalism are used to explore how public library actors articulate their role in the emerging politics of emergency preparedness.

Results. The library sector in Sweden is not identified as a prominent or leading actor in crisis preparedness by the Swedish civil contingencies agency. However, key library actors argue that libraries should be included in and take responsibility for societal crises and war preparedness.

Conclusions. The analysis shows how key library actors argue that libraries could, and presumably therefore should, take responsibility for preparing the Swedish population for crises and war. Thereby, they argue for libraries to self-govern and actively be part of the civil defence in a perceived state of exceptionalism. Such acts of responsibilisation may strengthen the legitimacy of libraries in relation to government and governing agencies. However, if libraries become megaphones for public information and promoters of information control, these acts may prove to work in the opposite direction with regard to library users.

This paper presents an analysis of how library professionals in Sweden and Denmark perceive the democratic role of the library profession in the polarised political landscape of today. Relating to research on the democratic role of libraries, professional ethics and cultural policies, empirical data was gathered through seven group interviews with library professionals from eleven local libraries in south Sweden and Jutland in Denmark. Results indicate a commonly perceived discrepancy between general formulations of values found in professional codes of ethics, and practical librarianship. Dealing with threats and challenges against liberal democratic values in the public library requires professional ethical considerations that in individual cases may question the need for value-neutrality among library professionals if the basic democratic mission of the library is to be upheld.

As the growing influence of the radical right turns cultural institutions into political symbols (Harding, 2021), online forums and social media are key venues for antagonistic outbursts directed at public libraries (Carlsson, Hanell & Hansson 2022). Trolling the Library aims to explore radical right digital attacks against public libraries, and is currently piloting different methods to analyse online comments and news items from the website SamNytt. This contribution outlines one intended deliverable of the project: a shareable workflow for the low-code tool KNIME (KoNstanz Information MinEr).

Low-code tools play an important role in making data analysis and visualization accessible to researchers and students with limited experience, or interest, in programming (see De Mauro, Marzoni & Walter, 2021). While low-code tools do introduce closed-box issues, they can still be considered important steppingstones towards computational approaches (Tyrkkö & Ihrmark, submitted). An additional benefit is the shareability of the workflow resulting from designing the method pipeline in tools such as KNIME or Orange. 

The specific workflow resulting from Trolling the Library contains sentiment analysis and topic modeling components. While limited in scope, the discussion of the workflow highlights both the benefits and drawbacks of low-code workflows as potential shareable resources for the digital humanities. This contribution focuses on the ease of use, possible obstacles from an unfamiliar user’s perspective, and the availability of appropriate resources for the platform. 

Works cited:

Carlsson, H., Hanell, F., & Hansson, J. (2022). ”Det känns som att jag bara

sitter och väntar på att det ska explodera”: politisk påverkan på de

kommunala folkbibliotekens verksamhet i sex sydsvenska regioner. Nordic

Journal of Library and Information Studies, 3(1), 26-43.

De Mauro Andrea, Francesco Marzoni & Andrew J. Walter. 2021. Data Analytics Made Easy: Analyze and present data to make informed decisions without writing any code. Packt Publishing

Harding, T. (2021). Culture wars? The (re) politicization of Swedish cultural

policy. Cultural Trends, 1-18.

Tyrkkö, J., & Ihrmark, D. Submitted. Low-code data science tools for linguistics: Swiss army knives or pretty black boxes? In Coats S. and V. Laippala (eds.) March of Data (Language, Data Science and Digital Humanities X). London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to produce new knowledge about the positions that public libraries both take and are given in the conflicts over politics and identity that play out in contemporary cultural and library policy debates. Using conflicts over drag story hour at public libraries as case, the study seeks to contribute to an emerging body of research that delves into the challenges that public libraries as promoters of democracy are confronting in the conflictual political landscape of today.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents an analysis of debates reported in news articles concerning Drag story hour events held at Swedish public libraries. Utilizing the analytical lenses of discourse theory and plural agonistics, the analysis serves to make visible the lines of conflicts drawn in these debates – particularly focusing on the intersection of different meanings ascribed to the notion of the reading child, and how fear is constructed and used as an othering devise in these conflicts.

Findings: Different imaginings of the reading child and the construction and imagination of fear and safety shapes the Drag story hour debates. The controversies can be understood as a challenge to the previous hegemony regarding the direction and goals of Swedish cultural and library policy and the pluralistic democratic society these policies are meant to promote.

Originality/value: The paper offers new insights into the consequences of the revival of radical right politics, populism and societal polarization, and the different responses from public libraries.

Folkbiblioteken framträder i allt högre grad som en arena för politisk konflikt och turbulens. Denna utveckling ger i sin tur upphov till ett flertal dilemman. I detta kapitel vill biblioteks- och informationsvetarna Hanna Carlsson, Fredrik Hanell och Joacim Hansson i dialog med Maria Ehrenberg, som arbetat som regionbibliotekarie i Region Halland, diskutera de utmaningar och möjligheter som folkbiblioteksinstitutionens demokratibärande uppdrag står inför i samtidens politiska landskap.