LAUSR

Abstract The purpose of this article is to verify the thesis put forward by Skot-Hansen et al. (2013) with regard to the potential of modern libraries, but considered in the context of an investment located in a post-socialist medium-sized city in Poland. The study focuses on determining whether it is possible to create in an ordinary medium-sized city in a country belonging to the Socialist Bloc in 1945–1989 an extraordinary library which will have the potential to become (1) an icon, (2) a placemaker and (3) part of community vitalisation. Such a potential of modern libraries is indicated by Skot-Hansen et al. (2013). They analyse libraries located in large Western European cities. Therefore, the question arises about the possibility of extrapolating the indicated features to libraries located in smaller settlement units and located in Eastern European countries. This is an area whose socio-economic development over the past decades has been different than the countries of Western Europe indicated by Skot-Hansen et al. (2013).