I uppsatsens inledning påtalas att medier influerar samhället och därigenom människors sätt att vara och känna. För att utveckla arbetsmetoder som svarar mot samhällets syn på text framhålls att dagens bibliotekarier bör ta detta i beaktan. Syftet med undersökningen är att studera bibliotekariers arbetsmetoder i samband med lässtimulerande arbete i ett samhälle som ses stå inför ett nytt textlandskap. Resultatet är en kvalitativ fallstudie som undersöker bibliotekarierna i tvärgruppen Unggruppen på Uppsala Stadsbibliotek och deras upplevelser av fenomenet. I kapitlet ”Bakgrund och tidigare forskning” presenteras forskning om samtida text, lässtimulerande arbete för barn och unga och bibliotekariers arbete mot unga på folkbibliotek. Det teoretiska ramverket består av ett sociokulturellt perspektiv så som det beskrivs av Roger Säljö. Teorierna lyfter fram tankar om att människan kommunicerar och tänker inom en social kontext med hjälp av kulturella redskap. För att analysera de kulturella redskap som framträder används begrepp ur Colin Lankshear och Michele Knobels teorier inom forskningsfältet New literacies. Metodens analysmaterial består av sex kvalitativa intervjuer, en observation och en dokumentanalys. Undersökningen svarar mot frågeställningar om hur ett vidgat textbegrepp uppfattas, hur Unggruppen agerar genom sina kulturella redskap och om bibliotekets kontext påverkar Unggruppens arbetsmetoder. Slutdiskussionen visar på att Unggruppen anser att ett vidgat textbegrepp kan leda till att stärka ungas självförtroende och läslust. Slutsatsen förklaras via en metafor där ett vidgat textbegrepp liknas vid ett kretslopp som ses gynna både individ och medium. En institutionalisering av ett vidgat textbegrepp sätts i relation till Uppsala Stadsbiblioteks möjlighet att fungera som en kommersiellt neutral zon för samtida text. Resultatet visar även att Unggruppen främst medierar eller förmedlar nya kulturella redskap genom andras kompetenser varvid följderna av en sekundär eller direkt mediering behandlas. För att folkbiblioteket som fysiskt rum och kontext ska kunna erbjuda en plats för ungas literacyaktiviter framhålls avslutningsvis vikten av att utgå från innehållet i aktiviteten och den sociala handling som uppstår. / The introduction of this two years master´s thesis points out the influence of various media on society, and subsequent effects on human behavior and self-awareness. The modern day librarian needs to take this into account when developing new tools, which correspond to society’s view of text. The purpose of this study is to investigate how librarians engage in promoting reading in the changing textual landscape of today’s society. The result is a qualitative case study examining the views of the workgroup Unggruppen at Uppsala Public Library on this topic. In the chapter “Background and prior research” a presentation of research on contemporary text, the promotion of reading among children and teenagers and public library outreach towards the young is presented. A sociocultural perspective as described by Roger Säljö supports the theoretical framework. These theories highlight the idea of human subjectivity and communication within a social context by means of cultural tools. In order to be able to analyze the featured cultural tools, notions of theories by Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobels in the field of New Literacies are used. The material of the analysis consists of six qualitative interviews, one observation and an analysis of a document. This study approaches questions of how an “expanded concept of text” is perceived, how Unggruppen mediates its cultural tools and how the context of the library affects the development of tools employed by Unggruppen. The final discussion indicates that Unggruppen considers that the “expanded concept of text” might increase the rate of reading and self-confidence of young people.  The conclusion is explained trough a metaphor depicting the “expanded concept of text” as a cycle benefitting both individual and media. An institutionalization of the ”expanded concept of text” is put in relation to Uppsala Public Library’s role as a non-profit zone of contemporary text. The result of the study also shows that Unggruppen mainly mediates new cultural tools through the competence of others. Thus the effect of a secondary or a direct mediation is discussed. Finally, the importance of considering the content of young people’s literacy activities while preparing a space for this within the physical context of the public library is emphasized.  The overall conclusion, looking at the case of Unggruppen, is the democratic empowerment of young people within the library. This is made possible by the librarians’ continuous notion of emerging cultural tools within and outside the context of the library.

The aim of this study is to show how some persons with one of the Swedish national minority languages as mother tongue use a library with regard to their mother tongue and culture. The research questions are: How do Sami-speaking, Finnish-speaking and Meänkieli-speaking (Tornedalen Finnish-speaking) persons use a library with regard to their mother tongue and their culture? What aspects do they find important in this use? As a theoretical frame I have used Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen’s model of the functions of the local library and Will Kymlicka’s theory of the value of maintenance of minority cultures. The study is a qualitative user study. Deep interviews have been conducted with 9 persons with Finnish, Meänkieli or Sami as mother tongue.The results show that the main use of the library is as a cultural centre and the most frequently used service is borrowing of literature. Most Finnish-speaking persons use the library this way and find it satisfactory. The Sami-speaking persons who read in Sami use the library but the small supply of Sami literature at the libraries is partly a limiting factor. The literature available in Meänkieli is limited, but some use the library to get access to this literature. Exhibitions and cultural arrangements are not attended very frequently and the library’s social function is not very prominent. Some persons use the library in their studies or in their profession to get access to literature in Finnish or Sami. The use of the library as information centre is minimal.The access to literature, the possibility to speak their mother tongue with the library staff and the highlighting of the literature and culture at the library are factors that are important and contribute to language-maintenance and strengthening of the identity. The accessibility to the literature itself and the children’s possibilities to use the library are also important factors. The study is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Policy documents in the public library field, such as the library legislation, local political goals and intra-library plan documents, often include ambitious but ambiguous formulations. This two years master’s thesis examines the relationship between four policy documents and library practice in a local context. The theoretical framework is inspired by a sociocultural theory developed by the Swedish professor of pedagogical psychology Roger Säljö. The theory emphasizes the importance of context to learning and development. The thesis’ method is a case study. The study compares how § 8 of the Swedish library legislation is interpreted in three local policy documents and how the clause is implemented in local library practice. The local library practice studied is the work of one working group which has the special assignment to implement the statutory commission for public libraries to provide special attention to immigrants and other minorities. The main empirical material is hence derived from analysis of four policy documents and from qualitative interviews with the five members of the working group. The method of analysis can be described as a questioning in three stages. What is stated by the documents and the informants? What do the statements mean in relation to other statements? And finally: how can the statements be understood in relation to the theoretical framework and to results from previous research? The main result of the analysis is that the policy documents do not function as a determinant context of library practice. Instead the policy documents play roles as tools used by the library staff to fulfill situational needs in the local library practice. In the conclusion I argue for further research on the content of policy documents and the function of policy documents in library practice. One possible aim of such research could be to enhance librarians’ abilities to use policy documents to serve their professional purposes.

Enligt IFLA:s mångkulturella biblioteksmanifest och Unescos folkbiblioteks- och skolbiblioteksmanifest har folkbibliotek ett ansvar att främja kulturell mångfald. Samtidigt påvisar forskning att folkbibliotek kan fungera som en förlängd arm i den så kallade integrationsprocessen. Med detta som bakgrund har uppsatsen som syfte att studera bibliotekarier vid ett stadsdelsbibliotek i Uppsala och analysera de villkor som präglar deras verksamhet riktad mot invandrare. Uppsatsens teoretiska ramverk är inspirerat av ett sociokulturellt perspektiv så som det beskrivs av pedagogikprofessorn Roger Säljö i Lärande i praktiken – Ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och Lärande och kulturella redskap: om lärprocesser och det kollektiva minnet. Teorin betonar kulturella och sociala aspekter i läroprocessen. I den vardagliga mellanmänskliga interaktionen kommunicerar man via kulturella redskap och dessa kulturella redskap är uppsatsens huvudsakliga studieobjekt. Studiens empiri består av fem kvalitativa intervjuer med bibliotekarier anställda vid ett stadsdelsbibliotek i Uppsala och studien arbetar utifrån frågeställningarna hur bibliotekarierna menar att de förhåller sig till Stadsdelsbibliotekets mångkulturella arbete, hur bibliotekarierna beskriver bibliotekets mångkulturella verksamhet och hur bibliotekarierna ser på bibliotekets uppdrag och roll gentemot invandrare. Informanternas utsagor har tolkats utifrån sociokulturella analytiska begrepp. Vilken kontext arbetar bibliotekarierna i, hur handlar bibliotekarierna i förhållande till kontexten, hur kommunicerar de med den invandrade lokalbefolkningen och genom vilka kulturella redskap kommunicerar de. Studiens resultat visar att bibliotekets verksamhet för invandrare baseras på de lokala behoven och att bibliotekarierna använder sig av språkliga-, kulturella-, sociala- och digitala kompetenser i sitt dagliga arbete. Dessa kompetenser fungerar som kulturella redskap som bibliotekarierna kommunicerar genom. Jag påvisar ytterligare att det inte finns någon motsättning mellan kulturell mångfald och ett integrationsarbete, tvärtom visar dessa istället tjäna varandra. I min slutdiskussion argumenterar jag för att bibliotekarier som verkar i en mångkulturell kontext bör få kontinuerlig fortbildning för att stärka dessa kompetenser som har visat sig verka underlättande i arbetet med mångkultur och integration.

The purpose of this Master thesis is to examine whether the term elasticity is relevant and functional to apply to public library organisations. Another aim of the thesis is to relate the term elasticity to public library organisations in a network society. Sociologist Manuel Castells provide the theoretical framework on the network society. Three investigations (meant to complement each other) in two Swedish public libraries seek to give answers to these questions.To be able to examine which areas of public library activity are elastic, I make a rough definition of what public library organisations consist of – nine activity fields are identified using IFLA’s guidelines in combination with Swedish law of public libraries. I also define elasticity. Three qualities make the term interesting to apply to public libraries: 1) elastic objects (libraries) have an ideal shape, 2) they (libraries) are moulded when pressure is applied from outside, and 3) when pressure applied from outside becomes too intense, elastic objects (libraries) break (or become dysfunctional).The essay undertakes three investigations in Alby public library and Dieselverkstaden public library in Nacka (both in Stockholm). In the first investigation two aspects of elasticity (in relation to public libraries) are examined: One aspect regards how elasticity is expressed in two texts that govern public libraries in Sweden – Swedish law and IFLA’s guidelines for public library activity. Is elasticity intrinsic in these norms and in what way? Secondly a comparison is made between how elasticity is expressed in these normative texts and the actual situations in two public libraries, in which way they are elastic, and what discrepancies there are between texts and scenarios from practice. I study the library – its collections, public activities, documents and rules and regulations regarding loans.In the second investigation I aim to find out how the visitors of public libraries shape the library, how they perform pressure on it. Short survey-like interviews are completed with twenty visitors at the two libraries.The third investigation consists of interviews with two members of the staff at each library. These interviews assist me in the process of developing thoughts regarding elastic libraries in a network society.Results show that the term elasticity is relevant but evasive. It becomes clear that studying IFLA’s guidelines and Swedish library law will not answer the question where the elasticity of the activity fields end. That limit seems to become evident only when examining libraries in practice. I find that five activity fields can be called elastic (in practice): the collections, the librarians, to give access to information and ICT, the library room and environment and management.Results also show that qualities that signify the network society combined with political changes, affect the way public libraries are perceived and opinions of how they ought to be managed. This is what I consider to be pressure on a global level. I also find that this pressure is difficult to measure.