In 1911 Valfrid Palmgren founded the Children's Library of Stockholm, the very first in Sweden.She was a well-educated woman, who believed in social and educational equality for all.During a journey to the USA in 1907, she was deeply impressed by the public libraries, andshe put many of the public library ideas to use in the Children's Library of Stockholm. Palmgrenstrongly opposed to the Swedish libraries not allowing admission to children, since shefirmly believed that educating the people had to start with the children.Other reasons for opening a children's library were to give children an alternative to roamingthe streets, to give children a quiet place to read, to give an alternative to the cheap trashliterature that flooded the market and to teach the young ones how to extract information frombooks. Of great importance was that the library should be equal to all classes in society.In 1927 the children's library was taken over by the new public library of Stockholm.

This thesis investigates the early field of library knowledge in Sweden between 1912 and 1939 (circa) through the lens ofFoucault’s archaelogy using a number of official documents (reports, bills, and statutes) as well as a number of articlesand speeches published in the journal Biblioteksbladet (founded 1916). It seeks to answer the question of how it becamepossible to form a field of knowledge, which external relations structured and enabled the field to exist, and which internalrelations of power and authority made it possible for librarians, state officials, ministers of education, and other experts toagree and disagree on the proper management of public libraries during the period.

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.