How do Politicians and Central Decision-Makers View Public Libraries? The case of Norway

This article is based on qualitative intervirews with members of the Norwegian Parliament and central decision makers on how they perceive and evaluate the role of public libraries. Public libraries are viewed very positively among the politicians. They tend, however, to restrict the role of libraries to promoting the literary canon and the cultural heritage through book lending and to support education at all levels. The library’s role in promoting democracy and social equality is not very central in the politicians’ perception. Surprisjngly enough, neither is the Archives, Libraries and Museums authority perspective, only a short period after Parliament decided to reorganize the library sector according to this perspective. IFLA is invisible to the members of Parliament shortly before the IFLA-conference is going to take place in Oslo, heavily supported by public funds.