Conceptual modelling of the public sphere in public libraries

Public libraries have been associated with a Habermasian public sphere, but articulations between public libraries and the public sphere remain undefined. To make fuller sense of the public sphere as it relates to public libraries, we used qualitative content analysis as a research methodology to study 12 Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh annual reports from 1900 to 2010. We identified 6 dimensions of the public sphere in public libraries: Core Criteria, Internal Public Sphere, External Public Sphere, Collect and Organize Discourse, Perform Legitimation Processes, and Facilitate Discourse. Using the dimensions we found, we developed a model to explain how public libraries function as instruments of the public sphere.