Future business models of the library – An actor-based case study at Aarhus Urban Mediaspace

Given the changes in the environment, customer demands, and alternative media portals, public libraries are starting to rethink their business models. The purpose of this study is to investigate how business models for public libraries can look in the future. Using pragmatic constructivism as a paradigm, this paper investigates the research question through a case study of the Urban Media space Aarhus (Aarhus Library) with additional comparable data from Aarhus State Library. The empirical data has been collected through interviews with the administrative director of the citizen service center and libraries and with the area director from Aarhus State Library. According to the six types of business models by Henry Chesbrough, Aarhus Library lies between type 5 and 6, which is a company with a quit open business model that has close connections to both partnerships and customers.The study of these libraries implies that different elements need to be taken into account when defining a business model for public libraries. These elements are customer integration, innovation, and broad collaboration in order to satisfy the diverse customers’ demands. We suggest that future libraries have to be well adapted to changes and be quick at picking up new ideas both from customers and partners and other actors in society in order to cope with the ever changing environment.