This Master's thesis concerns the public library as a public meeting place. Our aim has been to find out why and how the library as a social meeting place has been discussed within the Swedish library community and if there has been a constant core in the discussions from the mid 70's and up to the present day. In order to do this we apply a place and space-perspective. The result of the study is that the core of the said discussions concerning the library as a meeting place is to create belongingness. This is the reason why the library community has an interest in the public library's function as a meeting place with the idea that people, by using the public library in that aspect, may experience a feeling of belonging to the society.

The aim of this Master thesis is to study the public libraries' function as a place for people to meet. Four major questions are taken up: + Do the public libraries have the function of a meeting place? + How important do the librarians and the visitors find the libraries possible function as a meeting place? Do they think that this function is important? + What differs the public libraries from other places in society when it comes to the function of a meeting place? + What differences are there between a larger and a smaller library when it comes to the function of a meeting place ? The basis of this study are interviews with employees at a province library in Jönköping and at a smaller library in Sjöbo in Borås municipality. Our study deals with the history of public libraries, its functions as a meeting place, its architecture, culture, and statistics concerning numbers of visitors and loans of books. The conclusions that are drawn are that the public libraries have qualifications to function as a meeting place even if that isn't always the case.

This bachelor?s thesis describes a qualitative case study of a public library as ?third place?, a place besides from home and workplace visited frequently for conversation. The subject is chosen because of the many roles of public libraries. The main query of the study is ?What view does the public library have of its role as third space and how does that relate to the way utilization of the public library as third place is seen??.

The bachelor thesis examines conceptions behind the Swedish public librarian?s opinions of the public library as a meeting place. The study uses the critical discourse analysis, developed by Ernest Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, to analyze a focus group interview. The discourse analysis identifies four themes in the empirical material: the imagined arena of the meeting place, the behaviour in the meeting place, the meeting place?s librarian and the polemic against the meeting place.

The aim of this bachelor?s thesis is to investigate how the activities of the public library are portrayed by the Swedish press. It poses the following questions: What kinds of public library activities are portrayed in the Swedish press? What image does this depiction purvey to the general public about the societal role of public libraries?A model of four library spaces developed by Skot-Hansen, Hvenegaard Rasmussen, and Jochumsen is used as the theoretical framework for this study. Qualitative content analysis is applied to 173 Swedish newspaper articles that describe public library activities.The analysis reveals that articles about many kinds of public library activities get published in the Swedish press, but that some activities occur more frequently than others.

This thesis examines how techniques from place marketing, developed to market places, can be used in the process of designing a visual identity for an institution. The thesis is a case study of the development of a new visual identity for the public art institution Malmö konsthall. The essay presents Malmö Konsthall, defines the term visual identity and describes the main principles in place branding. I then define target audiences and key values, discuss the application of place marketing principle and go through the design process of the new visual identity. The process showed that theories about flagship buildings, signature design and signature districts have the biggest influence on the design.

The purpose with this thesis is to understand the relationship between a square?s design and its function as a public meeting place, were Sundstorget in the city of Helsingborg is used as a study object. The architect Jan Gehl developed a theory of people?s outdoor activities in his book Livet mellem husene (1996). He divides the activities in three categories; 1) necessary activities, 2) optional activities and 3) social activities, which are differently affected by the place?s design.

This master thesis was written in the purpose to study how the location and access to computers in the physical realm of the public library reflects the undergoing changes in the public libraries role in Swedish society. This study is done in a form of a case study of three small public libraries. All of them were in the process of transforming both their physical and virtual space. The thesis focuses on where in the library the computers are placed and how their location interacts with the libraries main tasks. It also focuses on the analysis of the relationship between these two elements and how that relationship reflects the alteration of the public libraries place in society.

This essay is focused on the questions of and responsibility for where, when, how and why communication and meetings through archaeology should take place. I have critically studied Swedish public archaeology through three diverse archaeological excava­tions, one took place in the end of the 1980s, and two others in 2012.I have asked for under what circum­stances and with which goals the public efforts become possible. I have inter­viewed leaders for the archaeological excavations and/or the public efforts and questi­o­ned how and why they reached out to the public. I also searched for results and effects in order to problematize and value the public activities.Through interpretation of the resear­ched material it becomes clear that economic issues as well as archaeo­logists interests and engagements are of vital importance for public archaeology. Co-operation in the local community and archaeological documentation is crucial for the deve­lopment of archaeology and its role in society.Keywords: Public archaeology, Community archaeology, Heritage, Communication, Manage­ment, Historic environment education, Time Travel, Living history.

The purpose of this thesis is to research public librarians view ofthe public library as a meeting place and how it may contribute tofacilitate social integration. To study this we have asked thefollowing research questions: How do public librarians work withthe public library as a meeting place? And how do they contributeconditions for ?soft inclusion??The method we have used for this study is semi-structuredinterviews. Seven public librarians from the Gothenburg areawere interviewed and the empirical material was analyzed usingqualitative content analysis.As a theoretical foundation we have used Dorte Skot-Hansensmodel of the public library as a third place and Mikael Stigendalstheory on social inclusion. Furthermore have we used research onthe public library as a meeting place and social integration as acomplement to the model and the theory.Conclusions from the material gathered is that public librarianssee the public library as a meeting place with potential tocontribute to integrating individuals and groups with one another.The librarians? foremost method was to attract visitors withactivities aimed at certain target groups.

This essay takes its point of departure in the need for modern day public libraries to legitimize their place in today?s society. Societal changes call for constant reinvention of libraries and as part of this reinvention, new light is being shed on the public library?s role as a meeting place. By investigating contemporary debate articles published in Bibliotek i samhälle and Biblioteksbladet, two major Swedish library magazines, this essay aims to categorize and compare different conceptions of the library?s function as a meeting place.

Ten years ago the public computers with Internet access were introduced in the public libraries. The purpose of the public computers was to give the possibility of searching information. Along with the Internet came also communication media like chat and e-mail. This type of communication was a new function for the libraries and the reactions among the librarians were mixed. It has been a source of big frustration and attempts to block it has not succeeded.

This essay is focused on the questions of and responsibility for where, when, how and why communication and meetings through archaeology should take place. I have critically studied Swedish public archaeology through three diverse archaeological excava­tions, one took place in the end of the 1980s, and two others in 2012.I have asked for under what circum­stances and with which goals the public efforts become possible. I have inter­viewed leaders for the archaeological excavations and/or the public efforts and questi­o­ned how and why they reached out to the public. I also searched for results and effects in order to problematize and value the public activities.Through interpretation of the resear­ched material it becomes clear that economic issues as well as archaeo­logists interests and engagements are of vital importance for public archaeology. Co-operation in the local community and archaeological documentation is crucial for the deve­lopment of archaeology and its role in society.Keywords: Public archaeology, Community archaeology, Heritage, Communication, Manage­ment, Historic environment education, Time Travel, Living history.

The aim with this Master's thesis is to study the debate that takes place in the local community when a public library branch is threatened by closedown through the local newspapers. Through this it is our aim to understand why the debate takes place, and why so many people gets concerned with it. By relating this debate to contemporary research of library- and information science, and the discussion in three major Swedish library journals, we have found the answers to these questions. By studying the debate, we found six subjects that where essential for this study. These were Politics and economics, Urban and rural districts, Democracy and accessibility, The service of the library, The meeting place and To replace a closed down library.

The main purpose of this Bachelor´s thesis is to investigate the visions chief librarians have for their public libraries. The world around us and our way of living is changing as the society is changing ever more rapidly. This evolvement also influences the public library, its role for society and individuals, its activities and its design. The question is how the public library can face these changes and what function and role it can get and make for itself in the future. Through qualitative interviews with five chief librarians our aim is to answer the main question of this thesis: What are the visions that chief librarians on public libraries have for the public library´s future? This study also contain the role the chief librarians give the public library of today and what they mean is necessary for their visions to be achieved.