Vi kanske skulle tuffa till oss lite på biblioteket! ? Konstutställningar på folkbibliotek, en del av bibliotekens funktion som offentliga rum?
This bachelor?s thesis examines the ideas behind the phenomenon art exhibitions in public libraries. My interest is to see if and how the art exhibitions can support the libraries in being a public sphere in Jürgen Habermas? sense, open for all citizens and their opinions. My study therefore has two purposes. The first is to find out which arguments and ideas that are used to motivate the activity. The second purpose is to see if and how the arguments and ideas can be related to Habermas? theories about the public sphere. The study is based on qualitative interviews with four librarians who are responsible for the art exhibitions in four libraries, located in three Swedish municipalities; Borås, Kinna and Malmö. The concepts by Jürgen Habermas are used to make sense of the information I got from the interviews. The results show that art exhibitions in the public libraries are seen as having a democratic, pedagogical and informational function. It can be seen as supporting the public libraries role as public sphere by creating meetings and room for the citizens to express themselves. But the function of the exhibitions differs between the four libraries because the art exhibition activity depends on the values of one single person.