Using new institutional theory and discourse theory this article discusses different norms and valuesthat may affect the encounter between the public library and the user. It also focuses on theproblematical in the characterisation of this encounter. The background to why I find these questionsimportant to discuss is that they are related to my research project in which I plan to study thepicture of public libraries as it is reproduced in mass media.

The norms the institution hold mayaffect this picture and the reverse may also be true - the picture of public libraries in the mass mediamay have an impact on institutional norms. The discussions in the article show that institutionalnorms regulate the behaviors of both librarians and users, not least in the way users are categorizedand talked about by the institution as well as in Library and Information Science.