Bokslukartävlingen har genomförts i Gävle Kommuns grundskolor sedan år 2002. Den vänder sig till elever i skolår 3-4 och den går ut på att tävla i läsning mot sig själv, andra elever och andra klasser/skolor. Tävlingen pågår under sex månader, det vill säga större delen av läsåret och där syftet är att försöka få alla eleverna att känna läslust. Denna studie består av en undersökning om vad eleverna tycker om Bokslukartävlingen och den läsning som ett deltagande innebär. Det har varit intressant och viktigt då större delen av eleverna inom Gävle Kommun deltar, mellan 1400-1500 elever varje år. För att undersöka vad eleverna tycker om Bokslukaren och dess läsning har enkäter som elever svarat på, som ursprungligen varit underlag i en magisteruppsats Bokslukaren 2006/07- En utvärdering av ett läsfrämjande projekt i Gävles grundskolor, analyserats utifrån ett didaktiskt perspektiv. I studien redogörs det, som en bakgrundsinformation, för Bokslukartävlingen och vad den har för mål och vad den kan innebära. Det redogörs också för aktuell forskning och litteratur som handlar om möjliga faktorer som kan påverka och forma elevers läsning. Resultaten visar att en majoritet av eleverna tycker att projektet var bra. Många elever uttryckte att de tyckte att det var roligt att läsa. En del elever tyckte att det var viktigt att kunna läsa och ytterligare andra elever uttryckte att det var roligt med tävlingen och att de kunde vinna. Utifrån deras svar kunde tydas att det fanns ett bokintresse, att de fick läsa mer i skolan under Bokslukaren än tidigare, och att det troligen hade förts samtal om läsningens betydelse. Några få elever tyckte Bokslukartävlingen var dålig för att de tyckte att det var tråkigt att läsa.

This master's thesis aims to study the relationship between two publiclibraries and Berättarministeriet, a foundation that offers free writingworkshops for children in areas with high levels of unemployment. Theworkshops are located in spaces that formerly belonged to the libraries.Questions posed in this thesis are How can the relationship between thelibraries and Berättarministeriet be described?, Why did the relationship turnout differently in the two places? and How does the library see itself, inrelation to Berättarministeriet?The theories used are Ögland's taxonomy for relationships between librariesand local organizations, and Folkesson's theory on interaction betweendifferent professional groups, and this was studied through interviews. Theresults showed a relationship without much interaction, beyond a "handover"of children from one place to the other, with time and shortness of staff beingcontributing factors to the low level of collaboration. Regarding the differentrelationships in the two places the results were not conclusive, butnevertheless showed tendancies of issues in the legitimacy dimension, fromthe library towards Berättarministeriet. This may be due in part to a lack ofconcrete evidence of success, a high staff turnover, and not having naturalspaces in which to meet. As for the libraries' self-image, it showed aninstitution and a profession that sometimes feel overlooked. Several repliesbring up how libraries need to make themselves heard and let people knowhow important they are.

The effects of technical innovation in the informationsociety also affects school libraries. The aim of mythesis is to examine how the school library has changedsince the implementation of one-to-one in schools (onestudent per computer). Research questions concerneffects on the library as place, stock development,accessibility and staffing. Impact on the role of schoollibrarians has also been investigated as well as ways ofworking with students.The study is based on interviews with fiveactive librarians who work at secondary schoolsin on-to-one project. The results shows that theschoollibrary is used more today, the schoollibrarian’s role is more significant at the school,library itself has become a more natural part ofthe whole organization.

The aim of this study is to examine what view librarians have on reading promotion with focus on their work with reading groups for people with print disabilities. The study is based on four semi-structured interviews with librarians. The results from the interviews were analyzed with Jofrid Karner Smidt’s theory on different kinds of reading promotion roles.The study shows that the librarians in charge of reading groups for people with print disabilities mostly used their abilities of literature and marketing, but the pedagogical and human role were also found in the results. The reading group also turned out to have, outside the theories, a clear social meaning. This reveals that it is not only the literature that is important in the reading groups for print disabled people.The conclusion shows that the librarians in the study were using the reading group not only as a reading promotion activity but also as a marketing activity and as a place for the print disabled to socialize with other people.

The purpose of this thesis was to study the view of reading and reading promotion that emerges in the project presentations from the public libraries that the Swedish Arts Council granted money in 2012. We also wanted to examine how the libraries worked on promoting reading in these projects. To find this out, we used a directed content analysis and analyzed the material with the help of two different theories, one of the views of reading and one of the librarians role in mediation of literature. We found that the view of reading in these projects emphasizes that reading itself is important, the content and how to read is less important. For the non-readers new media can be a way into reading. To create joy of reading was the goal that most libraries expressed. The work with reading promotion was all about new ways of thinking and how to find new ways to reach the readers where they are. The methods could be traditional, like booktalks, or less traditional, like using tablets or joining readers in the forest.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine which role public libraries play or could play within bibliotherapy. The study is based on qualitative interviews with five librarians who, in one way or another have experienced bibliotherapy activities. Further, we have interviewed two treatment assistants and one counsellor, who have cooperated with the librarians, to get their view.   We have used the following research questions: Which bibliotherapeutic activities, if any, are pursued in public libraries in Sweden, and how do they look upon bibliotherapy? What role do public libraries play/could play within bibliotherapy?   Ever since the term bibliotherapy was coined in the beginning of the twentieth century, the definition has been under debate. We have identified four main subjects of discussion. They concern the client, the text, the bibliotherapist and the question whether individual or group activities are to prefer. These subjects of discussion are used as a tool for analysing the results of the interviews as to our first question. We have modified Margaret Monroe’s Bibliotherapeutic Model for Library Service and this model is used as theoretical framework when analysing our second question.   The result shows that the librarians define, and look upon bibliotherapy in different ways. They have mainly experienced bibliotherapy as a group activity. For the future, they envision various opportunities of development, one of which differs from the rest – the individual bibliotherapy service. We have identified a set of alternative activities in which the public library could play a role within bibliotherapy.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the work in reading promotion is legitimized by examining manuals written by professionals in the field. A need for this has been located in the recent years discussions about literature’s status in society. The study was conducted by qualitative text analysis in two steps. The first concentrated on how the manuals describe the importance of literature and also their chosen method for reading promotion. The second analysis used theoretical themes from the Swedish researcher Magnus Persson who has studied the legitimation of literature himself. The results of the study have shown that the manuals do not actively motivate the reading of literature in general. This can partly be explained by the mythologizing of literature that Persson explains as a deep rooted concept of culture as something naturally good that thus does not “need” motivation. The manuals did however show a great deal more arguments for using the different methods which have been condensed into six categories. The thematic analysis showed that the manuals primarily used democracy as a way to legitimate reading. This way of interconnecting democracy and literature can be understood by the concept of culturalisation which refers to the process in which culture has become a much broader term that is used to explain many parts of today’s society.

The purpose with this essay is to enlighten the comprehension of the school librarian’s perspective of his/ her function, mainly when it deals with assisting work with pupils who have reading disabilities and in which ways the school librarian should encourage the pupils. The thesis is based on two research questions. How does the school librarian define what a school library is and its obligations? How does the collaboration between the school-librarian and the teacher operate? In order to acquire answers for these questions I conducted a semi-structured interview with schoollibrarians working at public primary schools. As an empirical point of departure, I applied a theoretical reading-circle model by Aidan Chambers combinated with Kerstin Rydsjös och Anna-Carin Elfs three different ways of observing reading: Chambers’ model is based on six different phases and these are: To pick, to read, time, place, reaction and response and adult support. The result of my study brings about a great many different views linked to the school librarian's role, the most dominant part is about the school librarian’s most important task, and that is to guide pupils when it comes to picking out the most adequate books so they can start developing better skills in the reading stage.

For years, Swedish boys have earned lower grades than girls in many school subjects. The reasons for this and how to tackle the problem is widely debated. This study investigates literature aimed to aid teachers in raising boys’ performance in school with an emphasis on reading. The study uses gender analysis to examine whether or not the strategies found in the literature are based on gender stereotypes. Furthermore, the study examines if the strategies can be applied within the Swedish school system. The analysis showed that the studied literature based its strategies on gender stereotypes and that most strategies were technically applicable within the school system in Sweden. However, the stereotypes that the strategies were based on do not conform with the democratic values that Swedish educators have to convey. Instead, the study proposes that strategies that are not based on gender be used, as well as teachers working against gender stereotypes, in order to help improve boys’ reading and overall performance in school.

Children´s popular culture for reading purposes, Qualitative study on reading promotion work at the leisure center Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med kunskap om barns populärkultur och dess betydelse för läsfrämjande aktiviteter. Fritidshemmet ska utöver att erbjuda barnen en meningsfull fritid även stimulera elevernas utveckling och lärande samt behandla det centrala innehållet i Språk och kommunikation. Populärkulturen är en stor del av barnens vardag. Det har samtidigt visat sig att den är en stark motivationsfaktor, en källa till inspiration och lärande för barnen. Denna studie är en kvalitativ studie och metoden för datainsamlingen är samtal i så kallade fokusgrupper. Sammanlagt deltar fem pedagoger i varierande åldrar och kön från två olika fritidshem. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt är socialkonstruktionism. Resultatet analyseras utifrån de centrala begreppen barns perspektiv, vuxenperspektiv, mötet och interaktion/ kommunikation som är av betydelse inom socialkonstruktionismen. I resultatet syns en variation i pedagogernas användande av barns populärkultur i verksamheten på fritidshemmet. Resultatet av studien visar på en begränsad kunskap från pedagogerna när det gäller användandet av barns populärkultur och dess betydelse i läsfrämjande syfte.