Öffentliche Büchereien als Orte von Gemeinschaft? Wie Bücherei-Etikette die Sorge für das Miteinander verteilt

Abstract. Public libraries in cities offer a variety of uses. They are places where people with different interests must explore and negotiate their being together. Although these encounters have the potential to be conflictual, visitors, librarians and external representations of many libraries describe these places as urban spaces characterised by low conflict and smooth interaction. They associate this public infrastructure with idealised notions of togetherness, where acceptance of different behaviours, self-control, and a sense of obligation to maintain and shape these shared urban spaces are interwoven, enabling a sense of togetherness. This paper focuses on the specific nature of this sociality. Based on two independent library research projects conducted in Bremen, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, we demonstrate how community emerges as an idea and a sense of togetherness from distributed care practices that revolve around following, transgressing and enforcing rules and thus around a „library etiquette“.