An increased access to information and knowledge through the development of information- and communication technology, Internet and social media has led to changes in perceptions of what the public library is and what role it has in contemporary society. In addition, the use of smartphones has contributed to an easy and economic way to market an institution and to build relationships with users through visual communication. In the context of adapting both to the influences of a global market and stated cultural policies on a national, regional and municipal level, the public library aims to serve a target group that includes all citizens.

The question at issue states: How does the public libraries in Jönköping use Instagram to market their activity and in what way is different library roles expressed through the images?

During 2016 – 2017, 302 images were posted on Instagram by the municipality of Jönköping. These images where studied using content analysis. The four spaces model, as explained by Jochumsen, Hvenegaard Rasmussen and Skot- Hansen (2012), was used to analyze the result.

The result shows that the public libraries use Instagram to legitimize the librarys existence towards users and decision-makers, to build relationships with users and to market activities, for instance. he majority of the studied images could be related to the inspiration space.