The thesis deals with the role and development of Public libraries with a focus on the political debate between 1899 and 1912. Public libraries today have a role as a socially important institution and are thus an important part of our society. In order to understand and gain clarity about today's Public library debate and the Public libraries' institutional role and legitimacy, the debate that prompted the development of Public libraries around the turn of the century in 1900 needs to be examined and elucidated. The thesis will deal with the background to the political library debate that took place between 1899 and 1912, how the arguments put forward for the library's development and role in society were and what parallels can be drawn to a contemporary context. The empiric consists mainly of political documents from the Parliament debate and these are analyzed on the basis of an institutional theoretical approach through a qualitative content analysis. Valfrid Palmgren's investigation and report, which was presented in 1911-1912, became important for the development of the Public library and may thus conclude the historical context. The result of the thesis shows a Public library development that follows the prevailing social development in a society where the people's voices through popular movement work, popular education and commitment worked towards democratic goals. The Public libraries came to be important for both the development of that time and have so also today through their today institutional role in society.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the debate surrounding the implementation of specific library issue systems (the Browne issue system and the Gothenburg issue system) in early twentieth century Sweden. Utilising discourse analysis as a theoretical basis, several articles published in the trade magazine Folkbiblioteksbladet between 1903 and 1911 have been analysed. The articles contain argumentation in favour of either of the two issue systems, through which it is possible to analyse larger ideas regarding the nature of the emerging public libraries in Sweden. Through close reading of these articles, four main discourses as well as a fifth overarching discourse have been identified: efficiency, statistics, guiding, uniformity, and finally control. These discursive discussions both inform and reveal the shape that the debate takes, as well as reveal an understanding of the ideals existing surrounding the formation of the new public libraries in Sweden. The study shows that the influence of the Anglo-American library sphere, as well as a strong interest in technological development and a modernisation of society at large contributed to the issue system debate and subsequently to the formation of the modern Swedish public libraries. Regarding the issue system specifically it was the Browne issue system which became the more widely implemented one in Sweden.  This is a two-year master’s thesis in library and information science.

This qualitative discourse analysis examines the way in which the state’s intervention in issues concerning the public library in Sweden is depicted before the establishment of said institution, and more spefically during the years 1898 to 1903. The general aim of said analysis is to act as a kind of balance to the prevailing representation of the public library as an altogether democratic institution. In summary the public library is presented in the source material as being the solution to an array of societal issues. The background to these matters is furthermore explored to some extent. Among these, pulic library initiatives as one of the components in a larger popular education project can be mentioned. The further goal of this project is in turn to produce a more effective workforce and thereby strengthen the competetivness of the nation’s industries, as well as to function as an intrument for social integration, pacification of the working class, and development of a civic subject position. The theoretical approach has been composed of a number of various orientations. What can be said to be the common denominator of these, is the point of departure in historical materialism, as well as to some extent an understanding of the relation between state and civil society as being integrated in each other, rather than separated by a distinct boundary. In short the study concludes that the subsidization of public libraries by the state constitutes part of the transition from the an industrial capitalism, to that of an organized such. This change is pursued by efforts towards conjuring a mobilization behind the national project, and the strengthening of the nation’s industries in relation to international competition. Simultaneously a form of renegotiation of the social contract takes place, in which the cultivation of the subject position of the citizen as an alternative to that of the class-related subject can be said to be a crucial component. Altogether the long-term purpose of said activities can be interpreted as ways of suppressing an open class conflict, and turning it into a latent one. The public library is presented as a significant component in said process, since it contributes to an increase in the general level of education, an experience of national affinity and participation, as well as a concession to demands for social reforms.

The purpose of this study is to analyze and describe how the children’s department in a library has developed until today. The study shall contribute to a deeper understanding of how the view of children within libraries has changed over time and how the libraries work with children and youths today. I will, in my study, describe how the library in Kalmar looked when it comes to their focus on children and how the focus look like today regarding this library. I will also study if there are any similarities or differences when it comes to the growth of Kalmar’s children’s department compared to a national development of children’s libraries. The study is done with an institutional theoretical framework with ideal types as a central concept. The method I’m using is qualitative content analysis. The material consists mostly of archive documents in the form of protocols, annual reports, and newspaper clippings regarding the period relevant for my study. The analysis shows that Kalmar’s City Library has undergone a major development regarding the evolution of children’s libraries. A lot of this development is consistent with the national development regarding children’s libraries but there are also some differences in the development on a local level.

The aim of the study is to delve deeper into how the press portrays the librarian profession through two different time periods and take a closer look at the discourses related to work tasks represented in the media to see how the profession has changed and why. The empirical material is from Biblioteksbladet, published in 1923 and 2023, and the study analyses the differences from a hundred-year progress in the representation of the profession in the press. These papers are analysed with discourse analysis to explain power relations, changes in social practices and society, and the context of the texts to explain why these changes have happened. The result of the study shows that there has been a change in the profession, as more tasks have been assigned to the librarians, which brings new expectations and changes in the work-related discourses in Biblioteksbladet and how they express themselves to the librarians. Furthermore, the profession changes with the society it is centred in to be of use to its users.

In the old university of Turku there were written about 4 400 theses. About 1100 of them havefound their way to Linköping in Sweden. This paper describes these theses, new variants whichwere found and some characteristics of their provenance. They are compared with the largebibliography over theses from Turku by Vallinkoski. A couple of theses with completeinformation which have not been available since 1827 were found. Several new variants werefound and together with the known variants they have increased our knowledge about use oftheses by students. Different variants could be designed to thank people at the Academy and inTurku, to thank people at home in Sweden who have contributed to the costsome studies andvery often to the bishop of the students home-diocese. There are even examples of wbichdifferent variants were printed for different dioceses.Theses from time before 1713 are quite few, about 150. They seem to have come to the libraryby private persons, mostly by priests who studied in Turku. No signs of other forms of distributioncan be seen.There are many more theses from the period 1722-1827. The collection is anonymous withhundreds of theses which never have been opened. This and other facts indicate amassdistribution. The author presumes that this massdistribution is connected with the exchangeof publications that started in Sweden in the 1740s initiated by the Uppsala university.

<p>My goal with this thesis was to investigate how educational material in the subjects of history, geography and social studies relate to the fact that Sweden has a history marked by prejudice and racism.I have chosen to focus on four areas in the Swedish history that I think deserves some special attention, these four areas have been: the Swedish slave trade on the island of Saint Barthelemy in the eighteenth century, Swedish eugenics and oppression of the Sami people, forced sterilization services during the twentieth century and Sweden's aid and concessions to Nazi Germany during World War II. With these areas in focus I’ve studied three textbooks in the courses Geography A, Civics A and History A to se how they deal with prejudice and racism in the Swedish history.</p><p>The result I have come to is that none of the books addresses all four of the areas I’ve focused on. Even if the books are taken as a whole the image that they convey is not adequate. In the event that the four areas that I’ve focused on been mentioned the information have been scant and rarely, if ever, has Sweden been paired with phenomenons like racism, slavery, colonialism, eugenics, forced sterilization, etc. All these concepts (apart from racism) are treated in comparison to other countries and in some cases, even moral advice, or condemnations occurred in connection therewith. Racism as a phenomenon is not discussed in any of the books, creating a further gap in the history these books create. The consequence of this would be that the teaching teachers need to compensate for the shortcomings of these books to meet the guidelines and objectives governing documents set up. If such compensatory education does not take place there is a risk that the areas I have chosen to focus on will fall into oblivion and the lessons we can learn from history could be lost.</p>

The aim of this thesis is to analyze debates and discourses about the public library in Swedish media from the 1970s up to and including 2006. The empirical material is derived from TV, radio and the daily press and by using discourse theory and methodology a number of debates are problematized. The result of the analysis showed similarities but also differences between dominant discourses during different decades. One discourse, termed the book discourse, recurs during all the decades of the study. The book discourse is primarily associated with concepts such as printed books, good quality fiction and popular education. The 1970s is dominated by a discourse called the community centre discourse. It called for public libraries to become community centers for various kinds of cultural and political activities. The information mediation discourse appeared first in the 1980s and was present during the 1990s and the following decade. This discourse argues that public libraries should prioritize new technology and engage primarily in mediating information, irrespective of the format in which it is presented. The analysis as a whole also revealed that authors often had a prominent position in and exerted substantial influence over the content of the debates. Librarians, however, did not participate to any great extent in the debates. In the conclusion I argue that there are important aspects of the public library that does not appear in the material. The role of the library as a meeting place is one such absent theme. Another is the importance of the library to ensure integration. I argue that this invisibility is a result of the book discourse dominating the debate. If the public image of the library is defined from the viewpoint of the book discourse, the result can well be that the institution is equated with a specific media format - printed books. Because of significant changes in media consumption and the ongoing digitization of information, this focus could in the long run mean that the library risks loss of legitimacy. Describing the library as a cultural institution, as a community centre or as an information centre depends on different discourses that aim to further different wills and interests. By highlighting the political, professional and institutional interests articulated in dominant discourses on the public library in Swedish media during a period of almost 40 years, this study suggests that the media debates must be widened and opened up for more actors.

My goal with this thesis was to investigate how educational material in the subjects of history, geography and social studies relate to the fact that Sweden has a history marked by prejudice and racism.I have chosen to focus on four areas in the Swedish history that I think deserves some special attention, these four areas have been: the Swedish slave trade on the island of Saint Barthelemy in the eighteenth century, Swedish eugenics and oppression of the Sami people, forced sterilization services during the twentieth century and Sweden's aid and concessions to Nazi Germany during World War II. With these areas in focus I’ve studied three textbooks in the courses Geography A, Civics A and History A to se how they deal with prejudice and racism in the Swedish history. The result I have come to is that none of the books addresses all four of the areas I’ve focused on. Even if the books are taken as a whole the image that they convey is not adequate. In the event that the four areas that I’ve focused on been mentioned the information have been scant and rarely, if ever, has Sweden been paired with phenomenons like racism, slavery, colonialism, eugenics, forced sterilization, etc. All these concepts (apart from racism) are treated in comparison to other countries and in some cases, even moral advice, or condemnations occurred in connection therewith. Racism as a phenomenon is not discussed in any of the books, creating a further gap in the history these books create. The consequence of this would be that the teaching teachers need to compensate for the shortcomings of these books to meet the guidelines and objectives governing documents set up. If such compensatory education does not take place there is a risk that the areas I have chosen to focus on will fall into oblivion and the lessons we can learn from history could be lost.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the historical use of "poison cabinets", or restricted shelves, in Swedish libraries. Drawing upon the theories of Mary Douglas and Michel Foucault, it also seeks to sketch a cultural and ideological context of the practice; with the emphasis on social or mental hygiene, and disciplinary aspects. Through qualitative interviews as well as digitalized recordings of librarians active during the first half of the 20th century, actual examples of poison cabinets are presented. A closer examination is conducted of past collections at Lund University Library, and two large public libraries situated in Växjö and Sigtuna. The essay also investigates views on library censorship, controversial literature, and other related subjects reflected in th elibrary press during the period 1916-1979. In summary, the researched material suggests a historically widespread use of restricted collections, although the objectives of its use differ depending on library function. While the collection at Lund University Library appears to have been the result of state censorship, and is associated with the obligation to preserve materials imposed on legal deposit libraries, public libraries' poison cabinets have had a stronger connection to an educational reading culture. As such, public libraries' main concerns have been less about bad books, more about easy-to-corrupt patrons. The study is a two-year master's thesis in Library and Information Science written at Uppsala University.