Public Libraries in Norway and the U.S.: Looking Outside During and After the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Through this examination of trends in outdoor oriented librarianship in Norway and in the United States we see both similarities and differences. In both countries we see efforts focused on promoting reading outdoors. We also see efforts in both countries to take the library outside, thus perhaps ensuring the library’s continued visibility and relevance to the community served. In both cases, library resources and outdoor spaces are woven together, despite challenges associated with taking these resources and programs outside. We also see differences: Norwegians typically consider themselves to be outdoors-oriented people, and the placement of library resources into outdoor spaces could thus be seen as a strategy to “meet people where they are,” outdoors. In contrast, in the United States there is a perception that Americans suffer from nature deficit disorder, and thus there is a focus on leveraging the library to promote more healthy engagement in outdoor spaces. This article sets the stage for larger international trends of this emerging trend, which does not seem to be diminishing even as vaccination rates suggest the COVID-19 Pandemic may be entering a new endemic stage.