Introduction. Since the 1960s, intensified migration movements have changed the nation-states’ cultural composition, and this is why integration efforts have increasingly been targeting newcomers. In 2007, a reform of the public administration in Denmark entered into force and the purpose of this article is to initiate an investigation of what this initiative has meant for the integration work in public libraries.

Method. The article is based on selected research articles and reports on the changing missions, visions, and objectives of Danish public libraries and subsequently used as a theoretical framework for the analysis of an interview with an integration librarian.

Findings. The Structural Reform changed the public library paradigm and promoted an administration perspective that focuses on the public’s existing knowledge of libraries, requiring an upgrade of librarians as teachers to make library use more efficient. Vice versa, the integration perspective is based on target groups’ ignorance of the library and this is why integration activities strive to create equality through compensatory discrimination. This ambition requires initiatives to be personalised and an interest in target groups’ preferences.

Conclusion. When the professional attention shifted from compensatory discrimination to formalised education, the public libraries’ raison d’être was changed, too.