The purpose of this master thesis is to describe and analyse the development of the library history in the municipality of Karlsborg. This is done with a comparison to the library development in Sweden as a whole and in particular to the cities of Lidköping and Halmstad. I have worked according to the following questions: 1. How did the libraries develop before the municipality took over? 2. How did the libraries develop after the municipality took over? The library history of Karlsborg started in 1862 with the foundation of a parish library which lasted until 1899. The next step was the foundation of the Workers of the Munitions Factory Library Association in 1907. This association ran a library on the factory grounds until forced by security measures to close down in 1915. In the same year the IOGT-lodge The Star of Lake Wättern started a library. The two libraries continued to work alongside each other since the Workers reopened their library in 1921. There were several talks about merger but nothing came about until 1956 when the two libraries were merged and taken over by the municipality. The two libraries financed their activity by several means. The main source of income was the subsidies given by the state and the municipality. Other important sources were the Munitions Factory and Trade unions. The librarians were volunteers and were not paid before the 1940s. The stock of books did show a steady but small increase, as did the lending figures. When the municipality took over there was a considerable boost to the whole library activity with funding and lending etc. In 1969 the first purpose-built library building in Karlsborg was inaugurated. The library development in Lidköping and Halmstad was much the same as in Karlsborg. The library activity did however start earlier and was on a larger scale. Since both Lidköping and Halmstad are much bigger than Karlsborg this is hardly a surprise. Halmstad is somewhat different since the municipality did take over the library activities already in 1933-1934 some twenty years earlier than in Karlsborg and Lidköping. In the later case the municipality took over in 1951. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this master's thesis is to describe and analyse the origin and development of the library of Workers´ Educational Association in the community of Oskarström. This library is special because the organisation run it much longer than usual, until 1977, and to find an answer to why, we have the following questions: Why does the library of Workers´ Educational Association start their activity in Oskarström, and how does it develop, in relation to premises, librarians, financing, the stock of books and the numbers of books out on loan? What is the reason that the library in Oskarström is municipalized as late as 1977? The methods we use are hermeneutics and evaluation of the sources. The library is founded in 1914 and become important for the workers. Important sources of income are the subventions given by the state, municipality and other associations. The library acts as a public library during all its time. After the final reforms of the municipalities in Sweden, the new municipality Halmstad take over the library in 1974. The reason why the organisation runs it until 1977 is because the municipality wants to build new premises for the library, and these are not finished until that year. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to describe the development of the most important libraries in Skövde, starting from 1830. We conclude our examination about 1940, when the municipal library has been active for almost ten years, and the libraries started by the temperance and working-class movements have been deposited at the municipal library. In order to explain this process we describe the development of the Swedish public library and its predecessors, such as reading societies and the popular national movements’ libraries, as a background and comparison to the early libraries in Skövde. We describe the most significant libraries that existed in Skövde during this period, starting with a reading society in 1830. We continue with a commercial lending library and a couple of popular national movements’ libraries, before we discuss the municipal library. The municipal library in Skövde opened quite late, almost 15 years after the decision in the municipal council. We examine what happened in the meantime, and introduce Major Eric Uggla who played an important part in this process. To explain his role in this development, we have done a simplified structure/actor analysis, based on a model by Lennart Lundquist, professor of political science. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to describe the library development in Sandviken, during a period from 1865 to 1945. I will mainly focus this examination on the two most significant libraries of the period; on one hand the library facilitated by the ironworks company, and on the other hand the library of the Workers’ Educational Association (ABF). This study is carried out within a theoretical framework consisting of the two concepts paternalism and the formative moment, as formulated by Lars Magnusson and Bo Rothstein, respectively. In order to explain the process the development in Sandviken is compared with the general history of the public libraries in Sweden, and specifically with the history of libraries owned by large industrial companies. The results of this study show that the library of the iron works company represents the strategy of paternalism, strongly associated with the Swedish bruk, or company town. However, the employers’ use of cultural and social reforms as a means of exercising control over the workforce, is challenged by the counter culture of the labour movement. In this case, the ABF library managed to grow and gain influence through its connections with the labour movement on the national level. This status made it possible for the ABF library to take advantage of the formative moment, and thus shape the future of the libraries in Sandviken.

In this masters paper the change that Lidköping public library went through between 1952 and 1959 is described and analysed. The aim is to describe and analyse the reactions that arose at the time that the first professional librarian, Jörgen Elgström, acted to create a modern public library in the town. The issues that are handled are: How did the local politicians and the general public react to the process of change that was started by Jörgen Elgström? What were the consequences for the staff, the premises, lending, child and youth activities? The paper is concentrated around the period 1952-1959 because this is the time when Jörgen Elgström was working in Lidköping. Jörgen Elgström has a central role in the paper. Elgström’s actions resulted in, for example, an increase in library staff, the founding of a child and youth library as well as that the library merged with the ABF library. A short history of the library’s early history is given to create background. A chapter is included on the development of the librarian profession in Sweden together with a chapter detailing three actors who during their respective periods have acted for library activities both nationally and locally. The paper is a qualitative case study that is first and foremost meant to illustrate Lidköping’s situation but it also gives examples of how it could have been in other library contexts in Sweden at the time. A large part of the empirical material consists of records and newspaper articles, so source criticism has been a suitable method to employ. The paper’s theoretical starting point consists of an actor perspective connected to a structure perspective and progresses to show how the actors integrated with society’s structure and vice versa. / Uppsatsnivå: D