TY - JOUR A1 - Johnston, Jamie A1 - Pálsdóttir, Ágústa A1 - Mierzecka, Anna A1 - Audunson, Ragnar Andreas A1 - Hobohm, Hans-Christoph A1 - Rydbeck, Kerstin A1 - Tóth, Máté A1 - Hvenegaard Rasmussen, Casper A1 - Jochumsen, Henrik A1 - Khosrowjerdi, Mahmood A1 - Evjen, Sunniva T1 - Public librarians' perception of their professional role and the library's role in supporting the public sphere BT - a multi-country comparison JF - Journal of Documentation N2 - Purpose The overarching aim of this article is to consider to what extent the perceptions of librarians in Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Norway, Poland and Sweden reflect a unified view of their professional role and the role of their institutions in supporting the formation of the public sphere and to what extent the variations reflect national contexts. Design/methodology/approach The multi-country comparison is based on online questionnaires. The central research questions are how do librarians legitimize the use of public resources to uphold a public library service? How do librarians perceive the role of public libraries as public spaces? How do librarians perceive their professional role and the competencies needed for it? Consideration is given to how the digital and social turns are reflected in the responses. Findings The results show evidence of a unified professional culture with clear influences from national contexts. A key finding is that librarians see giving access as central for both legitimizing library services and for the library's role as a public sphere institution. Strong support is shown for the social turn in supporting the formation of the public sphere while the digital turn appears to be a future challenge; one of seemingly increased importance due to the pandemic. Research limitations/implications This study shows that libraries across the seven countries have expanded beyond simply providing public access to their book-based collections and now serve as social, learning and creative spaces: both in the physical library and digitally. Qualitative research is needed concerning librarians' notions of public libraries and librarianship, which will provide a more in-depth understanding of the changing professional responsibilities and how public libraries recruit the associated competencies. Originality/value The article provides a much needed insight into how librarians perceive the role of public libraries in supporting the formation of the public sphere and democratic processes, as well as their own role. KW - Digital turn KW - Öffentliche Bibliothek KW - Öffentlichkeit KW - Bibliothekar KW - Beruf KW - Fragebogen KW - Digitalisierung KW - Sozialer Wandel Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2021-0178 SN - 0022-0418 VL - 78 IS - 5 SP - 1109 EP - 1130 PB - Emerald CY - Bradford ER -