In this article we will pinpoint some interesting differences between the Nordic and the American library system as we see them. Subsequently, we will look upon perspectives connected to American libraries which could possibly enrich the Nordic library debate.

As part of a comparative study of public
libraries in the US and in the Nordic
countries, we travelled through four
states – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi
and Tennessee – in May 2006. On the
way we visited public libraries in Austin,
New Orleans, Holy Springs and
Nashville. In all libraries we were well
received, and we got the possibility to
interview both managers and ordinary
librarians. Our approach to both visits
and interviews was sociological and
community-oriented rather than ‘library-
technical’.

Inspiration from the US - past and present
In the beginning of the last century
frontiers from the Nordic libraries
went to the US to study the development
of the American public libraries.
Once again on a pilgrimage we witnessed
the latest trends. The great challenge
of today is not only to run the
library efficiently but also to make it as
visible as possible in the so-called ‘experience
society’.

In the present Nordic library debate, it
is an essential subject how we can
strengthen the bonds between the public
library and the local community.
This is important because the competi-
tion between the public library and
other cultural, educational and entertaining
offers is as tough as never before.
The legitimacy of the public library
in the future is thus highly dependent
on the mutual relationship between
the library and the surrounding
local community. Due to reasons we
will touch upon below, this relationship
is more developed in the US than
in the Nordic countries.

Booktalk in Austin.
Photo: Jochumsen/Hvenegaard

A tight relationship between
library and community

Although the public library in the US
and in the Nordic countries shares
common ground in terms of basic
ideals such as providing free access to
information and supporting empowerment,
there are some principal differences
too.
In the Nordic countries, the public library
is a very integrated part of the
welfare state, a cornerstone in the ‘Nordic
model’. The libraries are financed
solely out of public funds as well as
their activities being based on national
library legislation.

Contrary to this, the public libraries in
US are basically a local affair. There is
no federal legislation and federal support
to the libraries is very limited. On
a state level the situation is very much
the same. The running of the public
library is thus a matter for the local city
council. This decentralized policy
means that the libraries reflect the local
community.
Every library has a board consisting of
local citizens. The functions of the
board can be only consultative, but
very often it is the board members who
– in close collaboration with the manager
of the library – decides the strategy.
Together with the fact that the
libraries are also dependent on local
private goodwill in the form of donations
and volunteers, this policy seems
to provide the background for a very
tight relationship between the library
and the local community. It would be
possible to emphasize several aspects of
this relationship, but as space is limited
we will pinpoint three aspects, which
from our point of view are especially
interesting in a Nordic context.

The visibility of the library

To get the needed local financial and
political support American libraries
have to be highly visible in the community.
The relationship with local
educational and cultural establishments
and with organisations representing
the civic society is often very close.

The great number of social and educational
programs to the benefit of the
local population, which is initiated by
the American libraries, can be seen in
close connection to the demand for
visibility. In all the libraries that we
visited, visibility seemed thus to be a
very important factor behind the tight
bonds between library and community.
The demand for visibility contributed
to determine the mission of the libraries:
namely to support and service the
local communities.

In a Nordic context such questions
about visibility and the interaction
between visibility and mission are both
interesting and very important in relation
to the survival of the libraries in
the future.

The library and the cultural diversity

Due to the financial and political circumstances
American libraries usually
mirror the local community they are
part of in a very direct manner. To us, a
particularly interesting aspect of this is
the way the libraries reflect cultural
diversity.
Major libraries will often contain departments
which emphasize different
cultures, just as minor libraries often
will reflect the dominating culture of
the surrounding community. This
manifests itself in both staff and materials
and in exhibitions and events. To
visit different branches in for example
Austin is also a journey through Afro-
American and Hispanic American culture.
As such American libraries appear
as institutions that support and communicate
the diversity of the community
rather than seeking integration in
a common culture.

Taken into consideration that the Nordic
societies are becoming still more
multicultural, it is highly exiting to
watch the American way of dealing
with this issue.
The use of volunteers
Our visit to New Orleans gave us a very
good impression of the mutual relationship
between library and community
in the US. During the difficult
times after Katrina the library in New
Orleans has played an important role
in finding the way back to normality.
Local citizens have participated as volunteers
in the rebuilding of the library
as well as in the daily operations. This
is impressive for a Nordic visitor and
even more when one discovers that the
use of volunteers is not an isolated case
related to an extreme situation, it is a
widespread and a generally highly appreciated
practice in most American
libraries.
The work of volunteers is a contribution
to the daily operations and as such
it is easy to judge the use of volunteers
as a replacement of proper public financial
support. But use of volunteers
seems to be much more than that,
namely an important ingredient in the
social coherence of the local community,
based upon a long and well-developed
tradition for an active and
committed civic society.

The use of volunteers is thus also a way
to strengthen the relationship between
library and community, and Nordic
libraries could without doubt take advantage
of the experiences from this
practice, too.

Winners and losers

In this article we have focused upon
some elements of the library tradition,
-policy and -practice in the US, which
could be of interest to the public libraries
in the Nordic countries in the present
situation. However, it is important
to notice that the American libraries, as
they are locally financed and partly
dependent on private donations, do
gain very different resources. The
richness of for example Nashville or
the poorness of for example Holy
Springs in the northern Mississippi
manifest themselves very clearly in the
local library.

In Nashville we saw the luxurious new
main library and the countless possibilities
related to this. In Holy Springs we
saw the sparse library and understood
the difficulties involved in attracting
private donations, qualified labour,
volunteers or even users in an area dominated
by unemployment and low
income. In the light of this we can not
help asking whether a well-provided
library would not be an important
lever to obtain development in such an
area, and furthermore whether that
would not be in the interest of the
whole nation?
The conspicuous disparity of the libraries
thus draws attention to the fact
that a very decentralized and donationdependent
library system obviously
causes winners and losers. In other
words: Just as we in the Nordic countries
can get inspired by the American
way, we also have to be aware of the
right balance between equality and
diversity, between centralization and
decentralization and between public
and private.

Henrich Jochumsen
hjo@db.dk

Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen
chr@db.dk

Associate professors
Royal School of Information
and Library Science