Die kumulative Dissertation umfasst dreizehn Beiträge, die zwischen 1994 und 2006 aus je aktuellen Forschungszusammenhängen entstanden sind und in unterschiedlichen Zeitschriften und Sammelwerken publiziert wurden. Sie widmen sich Funktion und Leistung der Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung (BBF) als bildungshistorischer Forschungsbibliothek, die in einer Einleitung entlang einer professionstheoretischen Fragestellung systematisch eingeordnet werden. Beiträge und Einleitung gehen zum einen auf die Bestandsgeschichte der Vorgängereinrichtungen der BBF ein, die als Gebrauchsbibliotheken insbesondere eine institutionelle Grundlage zur Verberuflichung und Professionalisierung der Lehrer bildeten. Zum anderen widmen sie sich neueren Angeboten der 1992 in eine Forschungsbibliothek umgewandelten Einrichtung, die sich besonders an dem Bedarf des veränderten Adressatenkreises orientieren. Es handelt sich um Dienstleistungen, die einerseits dem Kontext einer digitalen Bibliothek zuzuordnen sind, andererseits das Konzept einer Forschungsbibliothek zu einer Forschungsstätte erweitern, mit der Aufgabe, zur Unterstützung des interdisziplinären und internationalen Diskurses der an Themen zur historischen Bildungsforschung arbeitenden Science Community beizutragen. / The cumulative dissertation comprises thirteen contributions resulting from respective research contexts that were up to date at the time, that is from 1994 to 2006, and that were published in different journals and collective works. They are concerned with the function and services of the Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung (BBF) as a library for research in the history of education, and they are categorised systematically along a profession- theoretical question in the introduction. On the one hand, the contributions and the introduction address the historical development of the library stock in terms of its predecessors which, as practical user libraries, particularly served as an institutional basis for the purpose of teacher training and teacher proficiency. On the other hand, they refer to more recent offerings provided by the library, which was transformed into a research institution in 1992, i.e. services that are particularly oriented towards the needs of an altered target group. These services pertain to the context of digital libraries on the one hand, while on the other hand they extend the concept of a research library to a research institution that serves the task of contributing to the support of an interdisciplinary and international discourse among the science community of those working in historical educational research.

This case study investigates how teachers’ and school librarians’ attitudes towards L2 reading in years 1-4, as well as their perceived book access and teacher-library collaboration, influence the use and reading of English children’s literature in two Swedish primary schools. This study is motivated by the importance the English language has in Sweden for higher education, the previous research proving powerful language benefits of extensive L2 reading, as well as the recent proposition to strengthen the school library’s role in Sweden. The data collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews suggests that the participants’ attitudes affect book access, teacher-library collaboration and finally the pupils’ reading of English children’s literature at school. The results show that a confident and positive attitude towards early L2 reading appears to result in more reading, whereas more hesitant attitudes result in less reading. Despite the positive attitudes towards L2 reading in general, most teachers still displayed ambivalent attitudes toward dedicating ample class time to the reading of English children’s literature in the earliest years, often perceiving such reading as too difficult for their pupils. This ambivalence negatively affects the teacher-library collaboration, the inadequate access to physical books catering for the youngest pupils, as well as these learners’ early exposure to English reading. The results indicate that the interpretative nature of the English syllabus has teachers perceive the urgency of reading English children’s literature differently, consequently resulting in different reading practices. In a macro perspective, an unwelcome consequence for Swedish pupils may be an unequal reading preparation for the increasing English demands ahead.