This study examines public librarians’ self-presentation on Instagram. Publicperceptions of librarians’ professional roles, skills and job duties are limited and oftenbased on outdated stereotypes, which can affect the legitimacy of the profession andthe institution. Social media offers opportunities for librarians to self-communicatetheir professional role; therefore, a qualitative content analysis of Instagram postsinvestigates how public librarians present their professional role. The result shows

that public librarians predominantly present themselves through a book-and reading-centered narrative, which reflects their reading promotion mission. This is

complemented by a humorous tone, adapted to Instagram's standards. Despite this, alimited picture of public librarians' tasks and competencies emerges when importantparts of information- and technology-related work are invisible. This can contributeto a continued lack of knowledge among the public about the professional role, aswell as reinforce the stereotypical image that public librarians are only interested inbooks and reading. The single media focus can also affect the legitimacy of theprofession in a society where media supply and user demand are expanded.