Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka biblioteksverksameten Babybokprat. Intresset ligger i att undersöka vad medverkande i Babybokprat fått för följder för barnen och deras föräldrar. Det är också av intresse att undersöka hur ett Babybokprat fungerar. Detta gjordes genom att göra tre observationer av Babybokprat samt genomföra en gruppintervju med föräldrar som deltagit. Enligt forskning har läsning effekt på barn även när de är under ett år, vilket bibliotek i flera länder försöker sprida till nyblivna föräldrar. Genom undersökningen har jag tagit reda på hur dessa effekter kan se ut och hur föräldrarnas tankar om högläsning såg ut innan och efter deltagande i Babybokprat. Det visade sig att barnen lyssnade bättre när de hörde en bok de hört förr, och att de genom kontakt med böcker övade in en bokvana, som yttrade sig att de kunde bläddra själva i böckerna. Föräldrarna hade på förhand ett starkt bokintresse och var positiva till läsning för småbarn. De var förvånade över att målgruppen var så små barn, men tyckte det var bra och inte alldeles oväntat. Det de tog med sig från Babybokpratet var ramsorna de lärt sig och självförtroende i högläsningen hemma. De flesta hade dock börjat läsa lite innan de deltog i Babybokprat, vilket visar på att åtminstone dessa föräldrar inte är lika oinformerade om läsningens fördelar som forskningen påvisat. Andra inte mindre betydelsefulla saker som Babybokpratet gav var boktips, ramsor och en chans att träffa andra föräldrar.

The purpose of this Bachelor’s thesis is to examine how much and what was written in Sweden about foreign libraries and their design between 1916 and 1930. This is done by analysing articles published in the Swedish library journal Biblioteksbladet, using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Firstly, the results of the quantitative approach show that a total of 55 articles were published on the subject, within the selected period. They also show who wrote each article, and that they mostly reported on details of statistics, finances, interior design and the everyday practical work of Public, Central and Children’s libraries. Secondly, the findings from the qualitative approach, an interpretative reading of five of the 55 articles, reveal four recurring themes that illuminate the messages behind the factual details in the texts. These themes are, that the library should be for everyone; that Sweden, in some ways, had fallen behind in the development of libraries; that the details are shared to help build new and better libraries; and that libraries should adapt to suit its users. Finally, the combined results of these studies illustrate not only what the authors of the articles found to be the most interesting aspects of various foreign library systems, but also lend insight to the state of the Swedish library organisation and system of the time.

The study concerns the history and development of hospitallibraries in Sweden in the beginning of the 1900 century.Focus is on the 1930 decade, the time of major expansionof the area. The study is based on study of literature, mainlyfrom articles but also from a few booklets from the time.The purpose of the study is to find out how the librarieswere described in the literature of the time and which goalsand tasks they had. It is also to make it possible to increaseunderstanding of the history of hospital libraries, using it asan inspirational source for development of today´s businessin a time of major change. The result of the study showsthat those goals and ideas are still valid and serve well as aninspirational basis for development of today´s hospitallibraries. / Program: Bibliotekarie

Sweden is today often defined as a multicultural society. The implications on organizing and providing information in public libraries are many, since the systems presently used in the western hemisphere are not adapted to multi-cultural information. This thesis aims to outline ethical and practical problems that arise when organising and providing information concerning cultures other than western, and not least, when dealing with material in other scripts. With this theoretical framework the thesis examines the website of the International Library in Stockholm, a website built to serve users of different languages and scripts than Swedish. The research questions in this thesis are: 1, what specific problems can be distinguished within library work in a multicultural and multilingual environment? 2, what problems and needs were considered in the creation and design of the International Library’s website? And 3, can examples of problems and possible solutions of these be seen in the information and it’s organisation on the International Library’s website? The empiric material consists of the International Library’s website, and interviews with three informants involved in developing it. The study of the website has been conducted in two parts; in the first I have examined what kind of information has been made available on the website and how this connects to the library’s mission. The second part is a study of the material that has become searchable on the website, on how it is searchable, how it is classified and catalogued, and what kind of information is included in the records of the catalogue. The result of the thesis is that both practical and ideological problems arise in information organization and -provision in other languages and scripts. These problems can result in difficulties for users to find the information they need, an effect that in turn counters the thought of everybody’s equal right to public libraries and the information they provide. The study of the website shows the possibilities and limitations of providing multicultural and multilingual library services on the web.

This essay points at the importance of public libraries as arenas of meetings between refugees and the local population, and by this - creating social kapital in the society as a whole. The researchers Aabø, Audunson and Vårheim have created theories about low-intensive meeting places, that means – neutral, public places where accidential meetings with different strangers can happen, which can create social capital and trust among each other. To complement these theories I also use Vårheim who have implementet social capital-theories to the sphere of public libraries. These two theories complement each other and can help me investigate two public libraries in a rural area in Sweden. My purpose is to see how these two libraries are used as low-intensive meeting places for refugees and if the libraries contribute to build social capital in the society. I am interviewing library personal and the two heads of the libraries. I want to see what services etc. they provide for refugees and overall their thoughts and attitudes towards the library as a meeting place for refugees. In conclusion I have found that neither library is very strong when it comes to the function of creating meetings between refugees and the local population. But overall they have open attitudes towards it, and they try in different ways to provide services for immigrants. I can see in the material that these libraries have a good platform and possibilites of creating social capital in the society, and in many ways they contribute to this.

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the societysystem in Austria has influenced the library system. The aim is toanalyse in what way these influences have changed during thegrowth and development of the public library system and how it isdisplayed in each separate library branch. The focus of myinvestigation has been the municipality public libraries in Vienna,and mainly the three libraries in the third district of the city. Themethod I have used is literature studies, examining and analysingsource material from the internal archive of the public libraries inVienna. I have also used the qualitative interview method in orderto examine the situation in the selected libraries Rabengasse,Erdbergstraße and Fasangasse.As there is no common library law, there are significantdifferences in the library structure in different parts of Austria andeach municipality decides how they want to prioritize the libraries.Since the public libraries of Vienna are well organized together inBüchereien Wien, the library structure in the separate librarybranches is coordinated. My study shows that the Austrian societylargely has influenced the library development and librarystructure. The influences of the society system can bedistinguished in the late development from a closed-shelvessystem into a system of open shelves in the public libraries ofVienna. The ideas of the librarians in the workers library in linewith Walther Hofmann´s remained into the seventies (1970). Thishas influenced the work in the separate libraries. It has shown thatlong decision-making processes have affected the librarydevelopment and work. / Program: Bibliotekarie

This thesis explores the opinion of different participants in the music business regarding music being made available at the public libraries. The aim of the thesis is to answer the following questions; which are the most important issues concerning the distribution of music? How do the informants perceive the public libraries mission and activity in regard to make recorded music available? Which are the benefits/disadvantages with music being made available at public libraries? Seven qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from the following organisations; SKAP (The Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers), FST (Society of Swedish Composers), SAMI (Swedish Artists and Musicians Interest Organisation) SMF (The Swedish Society of Musicians), SOM (Swedish Independent Musicproducers), IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) and EMI Music Sweden. A study of literature and articles generated nine themes, which constitutes the frame of reference for the thesis. The result shows that several of the informants have not reflected upon the public library as an important actor when it comes to the distribution of music. However, during the interviews many interesting thoughts and ideas were discussed. One of the most important roles of the public library is to inform and supply information about music, according to the respondents. The importance of the public library can be expressed in two dimensions, the local distribution of music and for supporting local cultural activities, but the public library needs to make efforts on a national level to become a more well known actor when it comes to matters concerning music. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This master’s thesis aims at examining and structuring different viewpoints concerning the assignments of the Swedish public library system. The method used is ideology analysis.The main questions are: what are the overriding goals connected to each of the different assignments? How are these goals motivated? By which means are the goals to be reached? And how does our analysis relate to earlier research on the assignments of the Swedish public library? The thesis can be said to consist of three main parts. Part one is a theoretical framework introducing the concept “ideology analysis” and the concept “schools of thought”. Part two is an examination of different documents regarding the public library and its assignments. Analyses of political documents such as the Library act and other documents, such as documents from the Swedish Library Association and from periodicals are included. Part three is the analysis. The examination in part two leads to the structuring of four sets of schools of thought, each with a slightly different view of what the public library should and should not do. The first school of thought focuses on the public library as a beacon for an open and democratic society. The second school of thought focuses on the public library as a mediator and promoter of reading, learning and language. The third school of thought puts the public library's strong connection to the education system and knowledge in general in centre. The fourth, and last, school of thought stresses the impact the public library is liable to have, and in some cases already has had, on the economical growth in a region. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The question of the provision of electronic books in Swedish public libraries has lately evolved into a lively debate in Swedish media, where the public library‟s identity and itsexpected role as a democratic institution is an underlying topic. The aim of this bachelorthesis is to examine the idea of the public library‟s identity as expressed in newspaperand journal articles by writers connected to the library sector. The aim is achieved byexamining the language-use and identifying discourses in the debate. We use adiscourse analysis inspired by Norman Faircloughs critical discourse analysis, focusingon linguistic aspects of the text as well as the surrounding context which the texts bothinfluence and are influenced by. By applying linguistic tools, two main discourses areidentified on a superior level, of which one, the information technology discourse, isconsiderably more dominant than the other and has obtained a hegemonic position overa far less distinguishable, yet present counter-discourse. Furthermore, three internaldiscourses are identified on a subordinated level, as constituting the informationtechnology discourse. These three discourses, the market discourse, the technologicaldiscourse and the provision discourse are not to be seen as contrary to each other butrather as three aspects together constructing the superior information technologydiscourse.

The purpose of this thesis is to get knowledge about how it is to work as a librarian at Gothenburg city library during a rebuilding process and during the time when they have worked in a temporary library so called niche library. Which part did they have in the renovation project and in the niche library? The aim is also to find out how the librarians have experienced their time in the niche library and if it has affected their profession and identity.The method that is used to answer questions of the study is semi-structured interviews with four public librarians. Through comparing previous research in building and rebuilding process I have analyzed the four public librarian’s part in the renovating process and the temporary library. I have analyzed how the librarians have experienced it during the time in the temporary library and how it has affected their profession and identity.The four librarians have been divided in different groups during the improvement process to discuss requests how they want it to look like in the library. In the end of the rebuilding process the librarians were rearranged into new groups based on competence and interest. The librarian’s requests have not always been fulfilled because of different participants have had different opinions. Because of some of the librarian’s short employment period and their activity in the professional field they have not been affected so hard by the reorganization. The librarians have had the opportunity to develop their work at the temporary library. But the temporary library has affected some of the librarian’s profession in a negative way and they have not had the opportunity to use so many identities as before as at the central library. / Program: Bibliotekarie