Research Trends in Public Libraries as Public Spheres in Library and Information Science: Topic Modelling with Latent Dirichlet Allocation

1.1 Research Background

Against social fragmentation and isolation, modern public libraries are expected to facilitate multicultural exchange, guarantee equal access to information, and promote critical public debate. Based on Habermasian public sphere theory from the 1960s, extensive research in the field of library and information science (LIS) over the past 30 years has analyzed how public libraries fulfil these functions. The main research topics in this field include guaranteeing free access to information and creating meeting places where citizens can come together. In addition, new topics such as the use of social media have been broadly considered and have thus rapidly developed. This research trend of public libraries as public spheres is expected to remain active and robust in the future. Therefore, the knowledge structure of the existing research in this area must be adequately captured, and the evolution of research topics into their current development state needs to be elucidated.

Although scholars have been studying public libraries as public spheres for more than three decades, the topic is quite new in comparison with the entire history of the field of LIS. Moreover, the public sphere theory originally developed in the field of political philosophy; thus, the research on public libraries and public spheres plays an important role in linking LIS and political philosophy. Accordingly, knowledge of the research topics that have been discussed and accumulated in this research field is vital. Such knowledge should clarify that the concept of public libraries as public spheres is not an out-of-the-way proposal as it has been improved to reflect the current library service development influenced by various social changes over the past three decades.

1.2 Research on Public Libraries as Public Spheres

The previous literature on public spheres and public libraries was investigated. The results revealed three points of change as approximate research trends over the past 30 years. Initially, the research on public spheres and public libraries centered on supporting public debate by providing information through printed materials (Vestheim 1997; Wiegand 2003a). The first point of change is the focus on themes such as e-government and digital citizenship. Grönlund and Horan (2005) pointed to the emergence of the literature on e-government and citizen services in the early 2000s and, in response to the changes in the way governments disseminate information, some studies have focused on the importance of public libraries supporting the citizens who use them (Aabø 2005; Kranich 2010).

The second point of change relates to the focus of the literature on the characteristics of minority groups as library users, with immigrant groups becoming research subjects from 2011 onwards (Audunson, Essmat, and Aabø 2011; Vårheim 2014). This trend could have been influenced by the Arab Spring in 2010, which turned the spotlight on immigrants and refugees (Migration Policy Institute 2023). The last point of change is reflected in the research on events held in libraries, such as language cafés and conversation-based programs, from 2016 onwards. This trend seems to be related to the fact that the Library Act, which was amended in 2015, emphasizes that public libraries in some Nordic countries are open public meeting places for communication amongst diverse citizens.

Studies such as those of Vårheim, Skare, and Lenstra (2019) and Audunson et al. (2019a) have surveyed the research on public libraries as public spheres and specifically analyzed the themes they address. Vårheim, Skare, and Lenstra (2019) analyzed the themes, objectives, results, and research methods of 19 studies on public libraries as public spheres. Their results revealed five directions in the debate on public libraries as public spheres: community; knowledge organization; new tools and services; institutional structures and practices; and management and funding.

Audunson et al. (2019a) conducted a comprehensive literature review of approximate 150 scholarly articles on public libraries as public spheres. They analyzed the diversity of research topics and themes that received particular attention (Audunson et al. 2019a), with four research themes: Habermasian theory and the public library; meeting places supporting democracy; the role of social inclusion; and access to digital resources and social networking services.

However, these two studies lacked abundant research objectives and objective analysis strategies. Meanwhile, Sugeno, Koizumi, and Widdersheim (2022) pointed out that research based on quantitative methods is meaningful for comprehensively and objectively analyzing knowledge structures. They conducted a pilot study describing an overall picture of the research topics addressed by 128 references related to public spheres and public libraries from topic modelling using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Through the analysis, they also identified five research themes: the creation of social connections; language and cultural exchange; sites of deliberative democracy; theories of publicness and library policy; and social inclusion and democracy.

Research on public libraries as public spheres based on Habermasian public sphere theory has made unique developments because of significant changes in the library and society environment. The research themes concerning library management and policy, as pointed out by Vårheim, Skare, and Lenstra (2019) and Audunson et al. (2019a), are new aspects that are not included in the three conditions of a public sphere, namely, openness, common concern, and debate. Sugeno, Koizumi, and Widdersheim (2022) and Audunson et al. (2019a) identified themes for creating social interactions amongst citizens and the effects of social media. How has this unique discussion of the idea of the public sphere, in the field of public libraries as the public sphere, developed over nearly 30 years of research? The transition in research topics must be revealed using quantitative methods.

1.3 Research with LDA Topic Modelling in LIS

LDA is a topic modelling method that assigns topics of documents on the basis of the terms within these documents. In recent years, LDA has become a central method for topic modelling. In the field of LIS, research based on topic modelling using LDA has also been conducted.

Approximately two decades ago, Blei, Ng, and Jordan (2003) and Griffiths and Steyvers (2004) provided pioneering works on the LDA model, conducting experiments analyzing scientific documents and corpora and showing that the LDA model provided better results than conventional models, such as latent semantic indexing.

Miyata et al. (2020) carried out topic modelling using LDA for scholarly articles published in five peer-reviewed journals in the LIS field, describing the transition with 30 topics for approximately two decades. This study focused on scholarly articles published in two periods, 2002–2005 and 2015–2017, with the number of analyzed articles smaller than that in conventional studies using LDA. In addition to the title and abstract, the full text was included in the analysis. The studies that considered the full text of scholarly articles in the LDA analysis include those of Syed and Spruit (2017), who reported that including the full text yields more accurate results. Yamagishi et al. (2022) conducted LDA analysis on the event information announced on webpages by the New York Public Library (NYPL), obtaining 24 topics and elucidating the variety of events that NYPL offers to its various patrons.

1.4 Research Purpose

This study aims to reveal the research trends in public libraries as public spheres by conducting LDA topic modelling to derive an overall picture and comparing topics cross-sectionally to describe the transition of research topics over three decades. Realizing this research purpose should ultimately reveal an overview of the research topics in public libraries and public spheres.

2.1 Data Collection

The objects of our study are the English-language literature included in the comprehensive bibliography related to public spheres and public libraries identified by Widdersheim and Koizumi (2019) and the post-2019 literature we collected. For our selection of post-2019 literature, we consulted the databases of ProQuest and EBSCO, which are representative databases that comprehensively cover academic journals and literature in LIS, and used the search expression “public library(-ies)” AND “public sphere(s).” We identified 54 works in ProQuest’s Library and Information Science abstracts and 10 in EBSCO’s Library, Information Science and Technology abstracts. Of the 64 articles obtained, 21 were determined to be relevant to our analysis following an evaluation of their titles and abstracts. In sum, 122 articles published between 1993 and 2022 were analyzed.

The 122 articles for analysis were divided into four periods according to publication year: first period (1993–2003); second period (2004–2010); third period (2011–2015); and fourth period (2016–2022). We determined the range of each section based on the research trends that emerged from our literature review, with Table 1 showing the number of articles included in each period. We conducted LDA topic modelling on the literature for each period and compared the results of all four periods to identify the shift and development of research trends in this field.

2.2 Preprocessing of Data

For each piece of literature, the title, abstract, and main text (including the introduction, method, results, and discussion sections) were first broken down into words to make the literature a set of words. Following Miyata et al. (2020), we included the main text as a research object because the number of articles was too small to conduct topic modelling using only titles and abstracts. All words were converted to headwords, with all uppercase letters replaced with lowercase letters. The WordNet Lemmatizer in the NLTK library (available at https://www.nltk.org/api/nltk.stem.wordnet.html) was used for head-wordization, and unnecessary words were then removed according to the NLTK library’s stopword dictionary (available at https://www.nltk.org/nltk_data/) and our own rules (symbols, numbers, and single-letter elements were eliminated). Following previous studies (Miyata et al. 2020; Sugeno, Koizumi, and Widdersheim 2022), we then removed the words that appeared less than 10 times in all analyzed documents and the words that appeared in more than 90 percent of the documents.

2.3 Software Used in Topic Modelling

The topic modelling algorithm provided by Python’s Gensim library (available at https://radimrehurek.com/gensim/index.html) was used for the LDA analysis. Topic modelling was performed by varying the number of topics from 10 to 20 (the default basic settings of Gensim were used for the other parameters). The results of the topic modelling were then visualized on a two-dimensional map using the pyLDAvis algorithm (https://github.com/bmabey/pyLDAvis), with this 2D map representing the distance between topics and the number of documents contained within a topic. We examined the 2D map and words that characterized the topics (see Appendix A). Upon determining the topic models that best described the whole set of topics in each period, we set two criteria:

1. The map with the lowest number of topics entirely included in other topics.

2. The lowest number of topics consisting of less than 1 percent of tokens analyzed.

Finally, we identified each topic based on the relevant words indicated by pyLDAvis.

3.1 First Period (1993–2003)

Literature published between 1993 and 2003 was categorized as the first period. The LDA topic modelling revealed 12 topics that best explained the whole picture in the research field of public libraries and public spheres, with four core themes then extracted based on the resulting 12 topics and the relative position of each topic in the 2D map of the topic model: community life and libraries; reading activities and reading events; changes in library philosophy and planning; and local government and library policy (Figure 1, Table 2).

Figure 1:

Topic model map of the first period (1993–2003).

Reading activities and reading events. The theme of reading activities and reading events consists of topics related to community activities through reading in libraries; it is a distinctive theme found in the literature published in 1993–2003 and discusses the interaction of people and the formation of communities (Wiegand 2003a, 2003b) based on reading activities in libraries, such as book clubs and summer reading programs for children. According to the process of public sphere formation in Habermas’ theory, the public sphere first developed from the literary public sphere (Habermas 1992), a private gathering of citizens who criticized and discussed published works. The fact that such reading activities and events have taken place in public libraries lays the foundation for considering public libraries as places where public spheres are formed.

Community life and libraries. The theme of community life and libraries consists of topics related to the position of public libraries as public spaces in the lives of local communities and residents. Public libraries play a distinctive role in providing public spaces that are open and free for use by citizens (Wiegand 2003a). Public spaces have been used for meetings and gatherings of citizens’ clubs and activities and as meeting places for individuals who use libraries’ information and cultural services (Vestheim 1997). In this respect, we described the transition from traditional library services, such as lending books and supporting reading activities, to libraries as meeting places where citizens are encouraged to join public debates. We also found connections between the library as a meeting place and the public sphere theory in the literature.

Changes in library philosophy and planning. The theme of changes in library philosophy and planning consists of topics related to changes in library philosophy, organizational structure, and service planning. Regarding changes in the external environment surrounding public libraries at that time, Audunson (1999, n.p.) identified “the emergence of new media, the arrival of the information society, the rise of new public management, the emergence of new lifestyles for citizens, administrative downsizing, and decentralization.” Among them, new public management studies have been identified as independent topics. Under neoliberalism, services are strongly influenced by the direction of economic interests, however, this feature of services may not be sufficient to meet the information needs of an increasingly diverse citizenry (Leckie and Hopkins 2002).

Local government and library policy. The theme of local government and library policy includes theoretical studies linking public spheres and public libraries, as well as the social position of public libraries as public spheres between states and citizens.

Theoretical studies have illustrated that the social position of public libraries meshes well with the nature of public spheres. While public libraries are public institutions that operate at public expense based on taxes, they also foster not only cultural and social debates by citizens but also critical discussions about the parliament and administration (Vestheim 1997). Owing to this duality, public libraries exist between governments and citizens and play a crucial role as public spheres.

In public libraries as public spheres, fundamental rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are essential for cultural, social, and political discussions. In the United States, the USA Patriot Act (Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration 2001), which was passed in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, has curtailed citizen assembly and expression. The same was true for public libraries, where lectures and other events were sometimes cancelled when the law was first passed (McCook 2003). However, public libraries reaffirmed the need to provide meeting spaces to serve as public spaces for the community and as public spheres.

3.2 Second Period (2004–2010)

The second period covers the years 2004–2010. As already mentioned, issues concerning the Internet and digital materials emerged in articles published from 2004 onwards. The LDA topic modelling revealed 14 topics that best described the whole picture in the research field of public libraries and public spheres, with five core themes extracted based on the resulting 14 topics and the relative position of each topic in the 2D map of the topic model: library as a meeting place; information society and active citizenship; digital communities and social inclusion; public libraries supporting critical publics; and social minorities and library services (Figure 2, Table 3).

Figure 2:

Topic model map of the second period (2004–2010).

Library as a meeting place. The theme of library as a meeting place consists of topics on how public libraries have been used as meeting places. It is one of two themes that adequately characterize the second period.

Public libraries are meeting places with diverse characteristics. Aabø, Audunson, and Vårheim (2010) found that citizens may have three types of experiences in meetings in public libraries:

1. Contact and interaction between citizens belonging to different communities,

2. Recreation and collaboration in groups of friends and colleagues,

3. Cultivation of civic skills and the collection and discussion of information on social, political, and cultural issues.

The experience described in the third type reflects the Habermasian idea. As described in the second type, young and teen zones are assigned as spaces for learning and cultural activities that target children and young adults, respectively (Alexander and Immroth 2004).

Aabø, Audunson, and Vårheim (2010) revealed that citizens with low education and low income tend to use public libraries more frequently as social meeting places. Hence, public libraries are perceived as places that provide equal opportunities to become active citizens regardless of economic or social status.

Public libraries, as meeting places, create feelings of trust in the local community (Vårheim 2009; Vårheim, Steinmo, and Ide 2008). Interviews conducted by Vårheim, Steinmo, and Ide (2008) with library directors in Oslo revealed that outreach activities for potential library users have led to the building of trust in the local community. Programs such as civic courses and language learning for minority groups encourage potential users to visit libraries. The contact and interaction between users belonging to different groups in public libraries build trust in local communities.

Information society and active citizenship. The theme of information society and active citizenship covers topics related to public libraries and information technologies, and is the other theme that adequately represents the second period. Public libraries have become important institutions that provide Internet access to the public, with a survey conducted in 2000 showing that approximately 60 percent of public library users in the United States used the Internet access services (Aabø 2005).

Access to government information via the Internet in today’s information society has been actively discussed. With the development of e-government, governments have begun to release information directly. In a democratic society, government information must be properly communicated to the public, and public libraries should therefore act as intermediaries between the government and citizens (Johansson 2004). Specific activities include providing a point of contact for e-government services and digital government documents and ensuring access to websites that are critical of the government.

Finally, the cultivation of civilizational competence has also been discussed (Audunson 2005; Caidi 2006). Competence refers to the ability of citizens to gather information on political, social, and cultural issues and make decisions based on the information gathered. Public libraries contribute to democracy as places where citizens can acquire and demonstrate civil competencies.

Digital communities and social inclusion. The theme of digital communities and social inclusion includes topics on the relationship between public libraries and the new ideas of community and social inclusion that have arisen with the digitisation of society. The spread of the Internet has allowed citizens to interact with friends and acquaintances in remote locations through email and social media, thereby creating communities online (Aabø 2005).

However, the information society faces challenges resulting from the digital divide. Citizens’ access to the Internet and information literacy are essential for social participation and inclusion (Aabø 2005). Public libraries have confronted social exclusion in the modern information society by providing Internet access to users and hosting information literacy learning programs (Kranich 2010).

Public libraries supporting critical publics. Public libraries have collected a wealth of materials from impartial and neutral standpoints and have provided the information necessary for public discussion. However, from the third period onwards, promoting communication and trust amongst citizens as a basis for public discussion has become more important than supporting public discussion through information provision. Buschman (2006) revealed that by developing collections that reflect social diversity, public libraries have encouraged users to understand diversity and have created a foundation for public discussion. This work is a pioneering study in such a research trend.

We identified a considerable gap in the quantity and quality of the information that governments have about their citizens and the information that citizens have about their governments. Therefore, the role of public libraries in mitigating the asymmetry between the state and the public has been widely discussed (Braman 2009). In our work, we found critical debates about making government information accessible to citizens and pursuing transparency in public administration.

Social minorities and library services. The theme of social minorities and library services consists of topics that illustrate libraries as a place where people can be considered social minorities. Public libraries provide materials that meet the information needs of social minorities (Birdi, Wilson, and Cocker 2008).

Within this theme, LGBTQ-related issues are discussed independently. Public libraries are perceived as important fixed places that provide information addressing sexual orientation and identity (Rothbauer 2007). In addition, the anonymity of public libraries reduces unwanted attention when discussing or researching LGBTQ issues.

3.3 Third Period (2011–2015)

The third period covers the years 2011–2015. Research in this period focused on immigrants as participants in public libraries serving as public spheres. The LDA topic modelling revealed 15 topics that best described the whole picture in the research field of public libraries and public spheres. Five core themes were identified based on the resulting 15 topics and the relative position of each topic in the 2D map of the topic model: formation of social capital in local and minority communities; communication between citizens and library systems; joining research findings to practical areas; digital policy and public libraries; and information activities and libraries throughout society (Figure 3, Table 4).

Figure 3:

Topic model map of the third period (2011–2015).

Formation of social capital in local and minority communities. The theme of formation of social capital in local and minority communities includes topics on the involvement of public libraries in building community trust. The argument regarding meeting places in public libraries in relation to social trust as the basis of social capital is distinctive to the third period. In particular, the focus on immigrants is significant and is a remarkable feature of this period.

As noted previously, public libraries contribute to forming social capital in the community (Aabø, Audunson, and Vårheim 2010; Vårheim, Steinmo, and Ide 2008), but the details are not well understood. Vårheim (2014) studied first-generation Mexican immigrants in six public libraries in the United States to identify the mechanisms of social trust formation, highlighting that immigrants who attended English and computer skills classes first developed trust in their classmates and instructor librarians. Next, they felt social trust in other librarians and the public library itself and began to use the library. Subsequently, they experienced social trust in other library users.

Audunson, Essmat, and Aabø (2011) emphasized the nature of public libraries as meeting places where users are exposed to diversity and plurality. Aabø and Audunson (2012) discussed the importance of this feature in building social trust. In addition, the fact that everyone is treated equally as a library user despite differences resulting from diversity is one factor that fosters trust amongst library users.

Communication between citizens and library systems. The theme of communication between citizens and library systems consists of topics on the communication characteristics between citizens and library systems. These characteristics can be divided into two groups: public and private spheres (Widdersheim and Koizumi 2015a).

The former type of communication has features of “openness, discussion, and common concerns,” and its content is often about collection development and library legitimacy. The utilization of users’ voices in the management of public libraries is a democratic activity by citizens (Buschman 2013). Remarkably, we found a shift from library management discussions without citizens in the first period to library governance in cooperation with citizens and library systems in the third and fourth periods. Communication categorized in the private sphere group is communication that users engage in to satisfy their information needs (Aabø and Audunson 2012; Widdersheim and Koizumi 2015a).

Joining research findings to practical areas. The theme of joining research findings to practical areas includes topics related to the relevance of research results to practice and their dissemination to society.

Widdersheim and Koizumi (2015a, 2015b) developed conceptual models of public spheres in public libraries to clarify the relationship between these two concepts. In the third period, most research attempted to capture public libraries as public spheres based on individual case studies. In particular, the studies of Widdersheim and Koizumi (2015a, 2015b) are based on the nature of public communication in public libraries and a case analysis of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. These conceptual models encourage further research and discussion to pursue a more generic and abstract understanding.

Elsewhere, Widdersheim (2015) discussed the adaptability of the public sphere model in public libraries (Widdersheim and Koizumi 2015a), which consists of three elements: governance, legitimation, and commons. Although this conceptual model is useful for public libraries in certain ways, it fails to cover some aspects. Hence, a model that considers the relationship between public libraries and the government is necessary.

Digital policy and public libraries. The development of information and communication technology has facilitated government services such as e-government, while another change is government agencies’ use of social media (Bertot, Jaeger, and Hansen 2012). With these technologies, citizens are able to participate in political and democratic processes and deliver their views directly. However, a major challenge is disseminating information to those who do not have access to digitally provided information or communication opportunities.

Public libraries have been identified as intermediaries for the transfer of information between governments and citizens (Jaeger et al. 2014), and transparency and openness have also been prioritized (Bertot, Jaeger, and Hansen 2012). A crucial need is to guarantee the long-term preservation and free access to government information, data, and documents related to decision-making processes. Public libraries are one of the windows to access such information resources.

Information activities and libraries throughout society. The theme of information activities and libraries throughout society consists of topics on people’s information behavior and communication in society and the discussion of the position of public libraries within that context.

Burnett and Jaeger (2011) utilized two theories, Chatman’s small worlds and Habermas’ public sphere, to organize the complex and entangled contexts that influence people’s information behavior into micro and macro categories.

Chatman’s small world is a micro group of friends, family, and other groups in which information about daily life is exchanged and is often closed to external communication. By contrast, Habermas’ public sphere is a social space formed by citizens who share common concerns and discuss social and political issues or a place where people develop the skills to participate in such discussions (Black and Hoare 2014). Opinions and agreements formed in the public sphere are transmitted to decision makers, and the public sphere actively communicates with the outside world.

Burnett and Jaeger (2011) explained that public libraries are places where both the small world and the public sphere coexist. The small world, which is supposed to be closed to the outside world, is transformed into a porous group communicating in public libraries, a change which can be explained by the theme of formation of social capital in local and minority communities. This change positions the public library as a space bridging the public sphere and the small world.

3.4 Fourth Period (2016–2022)

The fourth period covers the years 2016–2022. The LDA topic modelling revealed 16 topics that best described the whole picture in the research field of public libraries and public spheres. From 2016, we found research on events held in libraries, such as language cafés and conversation-based programs. Five core themes were identified based on the resulting 16 topics and the relative position of each topic in the 2D map of the topic model: language and cultural exchange; social capital formation; guaranteeing information access; general theories and foundations of citizens, public sphere, and government; and public library governance and libraries (Figure 4, Table 5).

Figure 4:

Topic model map of the fourth period (2016–2022).

Language and cultural exchange. The theme of language and cultural exchange includes topics about how implementing language learning and cultural exchange programs in public libraries can contribute to the inclusion of social minorities and mitigation of social divisions. This theme represents the most symbolic characterization of the fourth period as it is one solution for creating interactions amongst diverse library users and building social capital.

Johnston (2016, 2019 found that conversation-based programs in public libraries in Scandinavia have helped immigrants and volunteers create a space for contact, reduced prejudice against others’ communities, and contributed to the expansion of social networks. Other library events, which help immigrants integrate into the life of the receiving country, provide an opportunity for participants to learn about social life and customs (Johnston 2016).

Johnston and Audunson (2019) illustrated that immigrants obtain language abilities and knowledge about society through language learning and conversation-based programs. These programs empower immigrants to participate in discussions about culture and society, in which their opinions can be conveyed to decision makers through a democratic process. Implementing such programs has led to the inclusion of voices about culture and society from those on the social periphery in public discussions.

Social capital formation. The topics identified under the theme of social capital formation discuss the role of meeting places in public libraries in forming social capital and providing a forum for public discussion.

Audunson et al. (2019b) conducted a questionnaire survey on how citizens perceive the importance of various services of public libraries (collection provision, Internet access, and meeting places). As seen in the revised Norwegian Public Library Act of 2013 (LOVDATA 2014), public libraries are expected to serve as meeting places and places for discussion. The survey results revealed that citizens who use libraries, relative to those who do not, perceive the role of libraries as meeting places to be increasingly important.

Social trust amongst library staff has also been studied (Wojciechowska 2021). Ethnic diversity amongst library staff reflects diversity amongst library users and contributes to the formation of library communities (Birdi, Wilson, and Cocker 2008). However, just as diversity amongst community members can lead to factions, ethnic differences amongst librarians can also lead to such a division. Wojciechowska (2021) surveyed public libraries in 20 countries and found that managerial personnel and directors play an important role in fostering the acceptance of diversity and feelings of trust amongst library staff.

Guaranteeing information access. The theme of guaranteeing information access consists of topics related to public libraries’ approaches to information access in this age of digital technology. With the development of information and communication technologies, citizens can disseminate information and form communities using social media platforms. However, problems such as the spread of uncertain or false information and fragmentation due to echo chambers and filter bubbles are widespread (Audunson et al. 2017).

Audunson et al. (2019a) determined that social media could serve as a new platform for citizens to participate in democratic debates on political or social concerns. However, caution is encouraged in the use of social media; since the global outbreak of COVID-19, fake news and conspiracy theories have spread on social media (Lor, Wiles, and Britz 2021), with such misinformation hindering public debate in the public sphere. Public libraries should play a role in “supporting the common base of facts and evidence that social justice requires” (Lor, Wiles, and Britz 2021, p. 11) through their collection of materials.

Makerspaces with STEM education and advanced tools such as 3D printers have recently attracted attention in public libraries. Lakind, Willett, and Halverson (2019) discussed makerspaces in public libraries in the context of providing access to information. Makerspaces provided by public libraries are free and can be used for any purpose.

General theories and foundations of citizens, public sphere, and government. Public spheres and public libraries have been studied for more than two decades (Larsen 2020), and the need to organize these studies has been argued in recent years. Research topics relevant to elucidating key research themes and generalising public libraries as public spheres using models were identified.

Audunson et al. (2019a, 778–779) conducted a comprehensive literature review on public spheres and public libraries and noted that the central interest in research topics has shifted from “guaranteeing freedom of expression and access to information” to “social inclusion and public libraries as places to participate in democracy.” They also revealed that research methods are mostly based on theoretical and conceptual approaches and are less empirical.

Some studies have bridged conceptual and empirical research, offering models of the relationship between government and the public sphere and its impact on citizens in public libraries (Widdersheim and Koizumi 2016a) and the social quadrants (public sphere, lifeworld, state, economy) that public libraries contain combined with the scale of time and communicative context (Widdersheim and Koizumi 2016b). These models provide a theoretical framework and data collection basis for succeeding empirical studies and will be modified and refined in future studies.

The Habermasian public sphere theory has been the theoretical underpinning of many studies in this area, however, studies have also criticized the use of this theory. Larsen (2020) pointed out that LIS research has relied heavily on Habermas’ early work, “The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere,” and suggested incorporating studies on public spheres other than Habermas’, including those of Negt and Kluge (1972), Mouffe (1993), and Alexander (2006).

Public library governance and libraries. In the public sphere in public libraries, public discussions can involve public libraries. The theme of public library governance and libraries consists of topics that discuss public libraries as an agenda for public debates.

Public debates in the public sphere affects public libraries’ operational policies. Sometimes, agendas concern the policy of collection development and the transformation of library organisations (Widdersheim 2018). The nature of discussions in the public sphere is that everyone can participate and that the content of discussions is open to the public. This characterization allows public libraries to fulfil their accountability to patrons and other stakeholders and gain public understanding and support (Widdersheim and Koizumi 2015b, 2016a). We can say that these arguments over library governance referring to citizens’ opinions from public sphere debates should have formed the background of the development in the theoretical studies introduced under the theme of general theories and foundations of citizens, public sphere, and government.

Public libraries are state-sponsored agencies, and their relationship with the government is important. The legitimacy of public libraries’ existence and the services they provide should thus be demonstrated (Widdersheim and Koizumi 2017), especially in the face of neoliberalism, budget cuts, and the downsizing of public libraries (Garvey 2021). The legitimacy of public libraries is advocated through public debates in the public sphere and the communication of the results of these debates to the government (Widdersheim 2018).

4.1 Transition of Research Theme Development

We compared the research themes in each period, as identified from the results of the LDA topic modelling, and identified those with similar content across the four periods (Figure 5). In Figure 5, the research themes considered as having similar content share the same color. Similar research themes were identified across multiple periods, indicating the existence of research topics discussed continually in this field and how they have developed.

Figure 5:

Categorization of similar research themes.

Evolution of meeting places and development of social capital. Studies on meeting places in public libraries were identified in every period. The perceptions of meeting places can be summarized as follows:

1. First Period: places for individual civic group activities

2. Second Period: public spaces where patrons face diversity and pluralism

3. Third Period: community spaces where patrons foster social trust

4. Fourth Period: social spaces where patrons build social capital in the community

In the first period, the interactive nature was weak. Public libraries were recognized as locations for activities conducted by individual communities and citizen groups. A significant change occurred in the second period, in which inclusive spaces where users with diverse backgrounds could interact with others were discussed. In the third and fourth periods, attention focused on the advanced social roles of meeting places in public libraries. The development of trust amongst users and local communities and the formation of social capital based on such trust were addressed.

Social inclusion of minorities. We noted a contextual change between the second and third periods. Until the second period, users belonging to minority communities were treated within the framework of minority services to identify potential library users. From the third period onwards, minorities came to be discussed within the broader framework of citizens using meeting places, with this emerging trend attributable to the fact that the increase in the number of library users belonging to minorities drew attention to the interactions of all users. Furthermore, in the fourth period, interest in language learning and conversation-based programs that involve minorities in public discussions appeared to have increased.

Public libraries and the Internet. The relationship between public libraries and the Internet is important. In the second period, topics related to the provision of the Internet and network devices emerged, while during the fourth period, topics related to the effective use of social media and cultivation of media literacy became critical. For instance, fake news and conspiracy theories have increased on social media, triggered by the U.S. presidential elections and the global COVID-19 pandemic. We found an emerging need for public libraries to cultivate information literacy amongst citizens and reaffirmed the importance of providing library materials as a reliable information base for citizens.

Governance of public libraries and citizens. From the third period onwards, the communication between library systems and citizens was addressed. We explored the debate balancing patrons’ private demands for library services (collection development, opening hours, etc.) and the legitimation of the library as a public institution. Moreover, debates on public library usage are also regarded as discussions in a public sphere. The attitude of being more responsive to citizens’ demands is presumably influenced by neoliberalism (aiming to increase the number of visitors and rate of lending). Although neoliberalism has been criticized from the perspective of the public sphere and public libraries, it has indirectly benefited public libraries.

Library activities based on reading. Topics tied to reading, a traditional service, have been receiving less attention because of the new media of the Internet and the focus on meeting places that do not directly require materials. However, demands, especially those for immigrant language learning, have once again brought attention to themes connected to reading. With the increase in social reading groups, more attention is expected to be paid to reading activities in this research area.

Public libraries encouraging critical citizenship. This theme is closely related to the original function of Habermas’ public sphere: citizens engaging in public debates on political and social concerns. In the second period, the research focused on public library services that support library users’ discussions by providing relevant library materials. At this time, the research was solely focused on activities completed within libraries, however, from the third period onwards, the research interest shifted to the outside world. Topics such as library practices in disseminating information and theoretical frameworks on the role of public libraries within the citizen-government relationship were identified.

4.2 Conclusion and Future Prospective

We divided the research over the past three decades into four periods and described the transition in research theme development.

The number of topics increased, and the contents of topics diversified. The theme concerning meeting places in public libraries appeared in every period, while the research topics shifted from places for individual citizen group activities to places for interaction amongst diverse communities and social capital incubation. For instance, minority populations became one of the main actors in society. We discussed social background changes and extracted the emerging research topics related to these changes, such as the spread of the Internet, the rise of social media, and the evolution of reading activities.

Based on these analysis, we identified new emerging topics and topics that fall outside the central research interest. When comparing the topic model maps of the first and fourth periods, we observed that the big picture of topics became more complex and diverse. This result indicated that research in the field of public libraries as public spheres has gradually developed and will continue to progress.

The literature analyzed in this study was divided into four periods. The topic models for each period showed that some overlap was present, and the existence of overlaps is important as it confirms the gradual development of research topics. Conversely, it would be possible to clarify the evolution of research topics in greater detail by focusing on these overlaps and tracing the changes in research topics over time for the individual research topics identified in this study and their key researchers.

Interestingly, theories other than Habermas’ public sphere theory, including social capital, were increasingly used in the third and fourth periods, although the field is concerned with research on public libraries as public spheres. This change implied the limitations of using Habermas’ theory alone and suggested the need for LIS research to incorporate theories on public spheres other than Habermas’ and to consider public libraries as public spheres from a broader conceptual perspective.