How is the Public Imagined by Public Librarians? A Case Study of One US American Public Library During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors

Allister ChangFollow

Date of this Version

Spring 4-6-2023

Abstract

This paper explores how librarians from one US American library imagined their publics during the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. By revisiting Habermas' positioning of the public sphere, this paper inquires librarians' own understanding of publics. Through the imagination of their publics after the buildings of the library closed in response to the pandemic, the librarians deepen our understanding of how publics are imagined, and thereby, how publics are made and how publicness is performed.