ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we analyze Scandinavian libraries from an historical perspective. We conclude that although library development in the three countries has been heavily influenced by external models – first and foremost German university libraries when it comes to academic libraries and the Anglo-American public library model when it comes to public libraries – these external influences have been molded and shaped by the ideas underlying the Scandinavian welfare states with their emphasis on equality and universal welfare arrangements. In that sense, it seems fair to say that we have a Scandinavian library model. In the past decades of the period covered in this chapter, these two branches of librarianship have approached each other.
