This text addresses the significance and potential of municipal libraries. The author considers the results of research conducted to evaluate the network of municipal libraries in Kraków (a UNESCO City of Literature) and to prepare a strategy for a new cultural institution, the Kraków Library. He considers libraries in terms of “place.” The notion of “place” here involves both the urban dimension of a library (that is, its role and location in the city space) and the architectural sense (its interior and attractiveness). He attaches great importance to a library’s city-forming and culture-forming roles, and to the social role of the library as a “third place,” a place that is neither home nor work and in which diverse participants can undertake joint activities.
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