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Der Beitrag bezieht die aktuelle schwedische Bibliotheksdebatte auf die europaweit entfachte Diskussion zur Verteidigung und Stärkung der Demokratie. Im Zuge der Kritik an Habermas' Öffentlichkeitskonzept, dessen frühe Version von homogenisierenden Vorstellungen geleitet war, wird nun versucht, demokratische Prozeduren und Repräsentationsweisen ausgehend von divergierenden Überzeugungen (Dissens) und länger anhaltenden Konflikten neu zu fassen. Der demokratiesichernde Auftrag – nicht nur – der schwedischen Bibliotheken zeichnet sich dadurch aus, in Krisen- und Konfliktlagen Informationen und Orientierungswissen bereitzustellen, ein sicherer öffentlicher Raum zu sein und sowohl das Personal als auch die Anwendenden mit Ressourcen auszustatten, die ihnen jederzeit ermöglichen, gesprächsbereit und handlungsfähig zu bleiben. This paper relates the current library debate in Sweden to the ongoing discussion across Europe about defending and strengthening democracy. In the wake of the criticism of Habermas' notion of the 'public sphere', which was guided by homogenising ideas in its early version, this paper now attempts to reconceptualise democratic processes and modes of representation considering divergent views (dissent) and long-term conflicts. Along with other institutions, the Swedish libraries follow the mandate to safeguard democracy by providing information and knowledge for orientation in situations of crisis and conflict, by being safe public spaces and by providing both library personnel and library users with resources that enable them to remain open to discussions and to be capable to always act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Dokk1 multifunctional library, which has achieved international recognition as an exemplary city library of the future. The first part of the article is devoted to a description of the spatio-temporal configurations and social interactions inside and outside the imposing building situated at the tip of Århus harbour. In the second part, the spatial-sociological perspective applied in the description is transferred to the measures and objectives aimed at promoting democracy, as these have been formulated in the municipal guidelines and other current documents. As user orientation is considered the most important guiding principle for the library staff, the behaviour of both the library users and the staff is interpreted in this article as representative of everyday democratic negotiation. Finally, it explores the question of how far the social togetherness in the library and local democracy in the municipality Århus kommun could be related to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]