Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction: In recent years, European public libraries have invested heavily in the digitalization of their services, developing digital lending platforms that expand access to reading and knowledge. However, these platforms not only organize contents but also construct istitutional discourses on what it means to be a citizen in the digital age. Objective: This paper critically examines the 2023/2024 institutional reports of three major public digital libraries - MLOL (Italy), eBiblio (Spain) and Gallica (France) - to explore how digital citizenship is discursively represented, regulated or silented in each case. Methodology: Through a comparative critical discourse analysis, the study investigates key linguistic and ideological patterns in the three reports. A comparative matrix was developed to examine dimensions such as discursive tone, user representation, time construction, and ideological functions. Results: The analysis identifies three implicit models of digital citizenship: patrimonial (Gallica), administrated (eBiblio), and participatory (MLOL). Despite their differences, all platforms fail to address digital inequaly, user agency, or active participation in the design of digital services. Conclusions: The paper calls for a new sociopolitical vision of public digital libraries as inclusive, democratic infrastructure. In the brazilian contex, where no national cooperative digital library system currently exists, these reflections are especially relevant. With the rise of generative AI, the public platforms must go beyond access and foster civic agency and digital empowerment.
Authors: Benedetto Bramante, Michele Bonazzi
Institution: University of Ferrara
Language: English
Subfield: Library and Information Sciences
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4417048650