The idea of this paper was to present the public library in Slunj; to investigate its past, to give a preview of the current state and through research done among the citizens to get to know how much do they know about their local library, why don't they visit it and what can the library do in order to attract them which could ultimately be useful in planning the future of the institution. In the introductory part of this thesis the explanation of the terms public library in general, its goals, ways of financing, legal legislation and activities, as well as of the term reading room in general are given followed by the main part of the thesis which's subject is public library in Slunj. In order to present the institution in the main part of the paper, a short preview of the history of the city of Slunj is given first, followed by the history of school librarianship in the city and the history of the institution itself. In the following part of the thesis a preview of current state of the institution concerning library materials, membership, employees, its programs and visibility in the public. After a short analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the institution and challenges which the library will meet in future follows the research part. The research was conducted among adult citizens of Slunj by using the interview method with goal to find out how informed the citizens are about the library itself and what would stimulate them to start using the services the library offers. Through the results and analyses of the research guidelines for the strategy of the future work and development of the institution are given among other things, in order to help the currently employed and future employees, the management of the library and the establisher of the library who finances it.