From scrolling to showcasing : On social media trends, the library as place, and social capital

This thesis examines how Swedish public libraries incorporate social media trends into the physical library space. Using observations as the primary method and drawing on theories about social capital and library as place – particularly the concept of the third place – the study explores how digital trends are translated into and manifested within physical libraries. The findings show that most of the observed libraries display collections of books that are currently trending on the social media platform TikTok. The thesis further discusses how Swedish public libraries can work with social media trends more broadly and argues that continuous external monitoring enables libraries to remain informed and sustain their relevance in a rapidly changing digital landscape.