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Introduction
The literature on public libraries contains only few titles found on keywords such as "self-service" and "public libraries". Furthermore, most of the retrieved titles dealt with automated loans and delivery systems. Experiences with staffless or un-staffed public libraries were only found documented, apart from in Denmark, in Singapore and Taiwan ([2] Holmgaard Larsen, 2011; [4] Larsen, 2007; [10] Tseng and Kuo, 2009; [9] Tseng, 2006; [11] Wieldraaijer, 2005). Staffless libraries today, enable the full use of all the facilities and services of the public libraries including use of computers and internet access, handling of delivery and loans of library materials, reading of newspaper and journals, conduct of meetings and social or cultural arrangements and the like. The experiences from Taiwan and Singapore in some respects differ from the Danish, especially through local community characteristics. Danish staffless or open libraries (which is the official name) have, until 2011, primarily been placed in suburban and rural areas whereas the Far Eastern library units were situated in densely populated neighborhoods close to Metro stations and urban centers. The key question of this article deals with the question to what extent the experiences with open libraries have been successful or not? This broad question, has been translated into four more specific research questions presented next.
Background and research questions
The concept was certainly invented by librarians as a result of the spread of automated systems for retrieving and handling information and library materials. Historically, the story of the modern library has been the opening up of library buildings and library space: from Gabriel [8] Naudé's (1950) Advice on Establishing a Library to the "open shelves" revolution around 1900 ([1] Dahlkild, 2011). A staffless, or open, public library in Denmark is defined as a library branch where a proportion of the opening hours are un-staffed. The presence of volunteers does not count as staffed hours. Typically, an open or staffless library has both staffed and un-staffed hours during the week. Only a few units (about six) are un-staffed the whole week. It is also a condition for being a staffless library that the full package of library services - loans and delivery of books and other library materials, journals and newspapers, internet access and the utilization of the...