It is essential for the library to continuously evaluate and rethink its role in relation toa constantly changing society. This Master’s thesis investigates the basic conditionsenabling the library to enter into a dialogue with citizens – especially young ones -and involve them in the development of a modern library. As a significant part of thisstudy, the thesis draws a picture of the conditions for young people in late modernsociety. Based on this, an in-depth analysis is given as to the kind of role a modernlibrary should play and what opportunities the library offers in relation to the generaleducation of young people. Finally, a presentation is made of the factors regardingcommunication that are at stake when libraries and their users work together tocreate the future library.The aim of this thesis is to identify the task that libraries must perform regarding thegeneral education of young people in late modern society and to investigate howlibraries can succeed in creating citizen engagement in the development of a libraryservice that meets the needs of the time.The thesis is structured in three chapters and is predominantly a literature study. Theanalysis is based on selected theories, each of which illuminates relevant angles onthe issues of the thesis. In addition to this, Aalborg Libraries have agreed tocollaborate on the surveys and it is on the basis of this interaction that I have hadaccess to the empirical data used in the thesis. This primarily consists of the usersurveys that the library conducted in connection with the creation of their vision from2022.In modern society, we have been able to understand the role and value of librariesbased on Gadamer’s humanistic conception of Bildung (general education). Throughthis, people have been offered the opportunity to free themselves from externalconstraints and structures via enlightenment and self-empowerment. However, theresearch of the thesis suggests that in late modern society there is no longer anyexternal, negative power that Bildung and enlightenment must do away with.Consequently, we must clarify and expand our view of the educational role of theNikolaj Nielsen – kandidatspeciale Dannelse og borgerinddragelse i biblioteksverdeneniilibrary. The thesis explains how young people are trying to master and control moreand more of their world and lives and thus they are trapped on a perpetually rotatinghamster wheel. However, Hartmut Rosa’s concept of resonance formulates analternative to this social acceleration. Based on this concept, the task of the librariesis not just about providing yet another offer in an already overwhelming array ofpossibilities, but about creating a framework for experiences that can touch, moveand resonate with people.Byung-Chul Han describes late modern society as a satisfied and permissive one inwhich there are no longer any external limits to our possibilities for self-expression.Therefore, the library’s function as a source of enlightenment and information nolonger has the same relevance, and instead, it must focus on offering somethingelse, something different which can help shift the individual’s constant focus on selfoptimization and control. With the concept of good otherness, Thomas Ziehe offersan orientation point for the general education. It is one of the essential points of thethesis that the library must constitute a free space for education whereinstrumentalism can be abolished and where you can curiously, playfully and openlyencounter a world that lies outside yourself.In the thesis’ analysis of the issue of citizen engagement, it is concluded, based onan analysis of Gadamer’s concept of dialogue, that the library must listen and relateopenly to the outside world while at the same time bringing its own horizon of valuesand characteristics into the dialogue. For it is in the open exchange, the co-creationand the meeting between horizons that the library’s future meaning must be foundand formulated. However, in Habermas’ terms, society’s systemic and strategicworldview affects the library’s lifeworld, and hence, it becomes a significantchallenge for libraries to find new ways of involving the outside world while at thesame time revealing their own wealth of culture, play and education. The thesisconcludes with an example of how this ambition can be realized in a contemporarypractice.