By examining the development of public libraries, Katja Thiele has turned her attention to a field that has received little attention to date in German-language human geography, and has explored the connections between the processes of digitization and austerity, as well as between public libraries as social infrastructures, public services, and educational equity. In the three European cities under study—Bonn (DE), Leicester (UK), and Malmö (SE)—she has conducted a comparative analysis of these developments and linked them to a) the respective political traditions of urban regimes at the local level (urban regime perspective) and b) the welfare state models in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden at the national level (multi-level perspective).
This topic is highly topical and, in terms of educational equity, very relevant from a sociopolitical perspective. As venues for non-formal education, public libraries complement other youth and adult education institutions and provide a starting point for self-directed, informal learning processes. The range of skills that users can acquire there is broad and includes individual learning skills, social skills, and methodological skills. For many people, public libraries also serve as an important part of everyday social infrastructure. They are accessible free of charge and have relatively low barriers to entry. This low-threshold access to resources is a prerequisite for social participation and trust in public services. Because of their local social functions, they are particularly important for people who lack the resources and space at home to successfully participate in educational processes. However, public libraries have been undergoing profound change for three decades. The causes of this are, first, technological developments and the resulting changes in user expectations—in short, the processes of digitization. Second, as municipal institutions, public libraries are particularly hard hit by austerity measures. Municipalities have an ever-increasing number of responsibilities but an ever-decreasing budget at their disposal. As voluntary services provided by municipalities, public libraries are particularly affected by financial constraints.
Using a mix of qualitative methods (document and data analysis, interviews, and participant observation), this study demonstrates that public libraries serve as spaces of opportunity for socially equitable urban development and can help reduce educational inequalities and the digital divide at the local level. However, urban regimes shape municipal library policy in a strategically selective manner, and amid the tension between processes of digitization and austerity, strategies are also being promoted that contribute to a deterioration of educational equity—in terms of broad, decentralized access—in already disadvantaged urban neighborhoods.