The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate the various approaches librarian's may have toward children's reading and toward storytime programmes, and also to discuss if and how these different approaches can influence their planning, execution and follow-up of the storytime programme. Eight qualitative interviews were conducted with nine librarian's who work with storytime programmes at public libraries. A model of three approaches toward reading and storytime was used to analyze the results of the interviews. The study found no indications that the librarian's approaches toward reading and storytime affect how they plan, execute or follow-up the storytime programmes. The results indicate that practical factors, such as staffing shortage or lack of time, are far more influential, as well as the personal view of the storytime-giver.

The topic of this bachelor thesis is the art of book talk. Book talk is when a librarian orally presents a book in front of a group of people, in this thesis, a group of children. The first part of the thesis treats book talk as a method and its development. It will also go through which role book talk plays in the daily work of a children's librarian today, and if they got any education in book talk during their librarian education. The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare Lev Vygotskij's pedagogical theories on fantasy and creativity to book talk performed by children's librarians. Interviews were made with three children's librarians at two libraries in a quite big town in Sweden. Book talks were also observed at some occasions. The result of this study is that the interviewed librarians are not mainly aware of which pedagogical methods used in their book talks (and in preparing them). Yet it is possible, by analysing the material from the interviews and observations, to find similarities between book talk and Vygotskij's theories. / Uppsatsnivå: C

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate four children’s librarians’ literature view and their collaboration with pre-schools. My main question at issue is “What literature view do children’s librarians in this thesis have and how does this reflect their collaboration with pre-schools?”. Another purpose is to study the canon process in relation to children’s libraries and pre-schools. I have applied two theories on my analysis. The first is the view of Lennart Hellsing on a good children’s book and the second is three different views on literature, the pragmatic, the traditional and the emancipated views. My results show that people indirectly influence small children in their selection of literature. Adults are encouraged when they realise that the books they read themselves when they were children still exist and willingly read them for their own children. This is one reason why some children’s books have been popular for so many years in pre-schools. It is important to successively change the canon because more vintage books can give their children wrong conceptions as they do not deal with the present era of the children. My results also show that the children’s librarians readily want the children to take part of literature with different presentations of a problem. The books should deal with life and take place in present time, however the children’s pleasure of reading is most important. The collaboration between libraries and pre-schools is not especially good at the moment but is now increasing by means of the project LekaSpråkaLära. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this study is to explore the possibilities for children’s librarians to extend their competence in the area of reading promotion. The study is carried out within an ongoing reading promotion project directed towards small children from 0-7 years. The study aims to answer the following questions: How do children’s librarians develop new skills in a reading promotion project? How do children’s librarians view a broadening of the concept of reading and how does their approach affect which skills that are acknowledged?The study is mainly based on qualitative interviews with five children´s librarians who all participate in the project. The theory used is Etienne Wenger´s social theory of learning where he defines learning as a process of social participation in Communities of Practice. The result shows that librarians value the sharing of experiences with colleagues in both informal and more formal discussions. Lectures, workshops and interaction with other professionals also contribute to new competencies according to the librarians. The interviewees emphasize the importance of understanding that children develop an interest in reading in different ways. The printed book is central when working with children but the interview subjects stress that reading can be further stimulated by using pictures, sound, singing and movement in activities that promote reading / Program: Bibliotekarie

With a special focus on the early intervention project Bookstart, this bachelor’s thesis poses questions about the professional identity of children's librarians, and whether it changes when the work field is moved from the public sphere if libraries to the domestic sphere of people’s homes. From a socio-cultural perspective, it is also investigated how collaboration with external partners has worked, and how this may have influenced librians within the Bookstart project and their professional identity. Bookstart is aimed at the youngest children and their families, and is based on research on early literacy. The pilot project in Sweden has mainly used home visits as a method. The Bookstart project involves new working methods and forms of communication which may affect the professional identity of the participating librarians and the children's library services. Previous research shows that children's librarians possess abroad pedagogical competence, which is rarely expressed. The empirical data of the study reported in the thesis consists of interviews with five children librarians who have worked with bookstart. Anders Ørom's and Trine Schreiber's theories of professional identities are used as analytical tools for the undertaken qualitative content analysis. The thesis main conclusions are as follows: Bookstart has raised thoughts about the participating librarians’ professional identity, especially with a focus on working methods and the professional service to users. The change of environment meant are valuation of the library as a place and the connection of the professional identity to the room.

This study conducts a qualitative examination based on five interviews with children’s librarians. The aim is to bring up and analyse the attitudes of the librarians towards reading promotion activities for children outside of school and investigate their experiences of participation in a summer reading challenge project.The first theory used to analyse is Jofrid Karner Smidt’s thesis of five different roles that a librarian can have on literary preferences. The second is her theory of how librarians view their promotion of literature.My interviews shows that the librarians in the study have a common opinion and enthusiasm regarding children's pleasure reading. They consider that their most important task is to show them the joy in reading. Promote reading work outside of school requires marketing in a different way than the same work at school. The libraries spend a lot of time and energy to present themselves in different ways. It is important to constantly seek new ways of working and try to reach out to the children.A concept like Sommarboken with a common purpose and materials and follow up meetings is well considered. The various libraries design themselves their summer meetings as they want. At the meetings, the children have the opportunity to the all-important conversation about their reading, both with each other and the librarian. The lustful and undemanding in the arrangement is something that all the interviewees represent in their profession. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences and perceptions of children`s librarians regarding floating collections in public libraries in Gothenburg. In focus for the study are the experiences and perceptions that exist among children`s librarians when it comes to children as library users, the librarian`s working tasks and the professional role as a librarian. The empirical material has been collected through semistructured interviews with six children`s librarians. The material has been analyzed twice. The first analysis has been conducted through qualitative content analysis. The second analysis has been conducted by using a tool constructed with inspiration from Maj Klasson`s and Anders Ørom`s theories of the professional roles and identities of a librarian. One major finding is that the informants percept children as different from grown-ups in their role as library users. The way children are makes it difficult for them to get their needs satisfied in a library system that practices floating collections. On the other hand the perception that children can learn what it takes to be able to act functionally within floating collections also exists among the interviewed librarians. Another finding is that literature mediation and collection development are working tasks that are influenced by floating collections. The study also indicates that the librarian role as a literature mediator and the role as a librarian that puts the user first are threatened as the marketing role and the role as a mediator of technical knowledge dominate when floating collection is practiced as a media strategy. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of the study has been to find out children’s librarians’ views on and management of media that contains topics with a controversial nature and also to find out how this affects the public library as a democratic institution. We have conducted the study by interviewing six children’s librarians. By using Vestheim’s terms value rationality and instrumental rationality, we have been categorizing the answers from our informants and thus identified two different points of view. Our study shows that topics that the children’s librarians consider controversial among themselves and their users are: racism, discrimination of women, violence, sex, drugs, the use of language, stereotypical gender descriptions, pee and poo, Christmas and religion. Our informants also point out that it is the description of the topic in question that is most important. Our informants generally manage media with controversial topics by showing an open attitude towards the media and by not doing anything at all, but sometimes they replace it, remove it or choose not to purchase it at all. Controversies with the users are not common and if they do occur it is often adults who criticize media that they consider inappropriate for children and teenagers. Our informants mean that it is of most importance to listen to children’s and teenagers’ opinions, and they also point out that no topic is off limits on their public library. This shows that the public library can function as an important democratic arena for the children and teenagers in our society.

The aim of this thesis was to understand and illuminate how readingpromotion projects can be carried out, what sort of activities they mightcontain and what sort of lasting impressions they might make. We choseto examine reading promotion projects because we consider thepromotion of reading and literacy a vital and important part of thelibraries work. The study took place at the city library of Uddevalla andthe projects included in the study were all directed towards children andyouth.The theory used in the thesis was Aidan Chambers’s model of theReading Circle which consists of the four themes of selection,‘reading’, response and the enabling adult. Methods used were semistructuredinterview, document studies and observation.The results show that reading promotion projects benefit from cooperationbetween the adults involved and that education of the adultsin order to indirectly target the children is an effective way of spreadingthe love of reading. Involving children and youth in the work anddecision making process proved to be prosperous.The conclusions are that reading promotion projects give the librarieseconomic and creative resources to try out new ways of working andcooperating. With these tools and the aim to spread the love of readingthe librarians have an increased possibility to reach out and providesupport and inspiration to all becoming readers. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The concept of family is heterogeneous and multifaceted, but is often portrayed as homogeneous. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the image of family in the library environment is open and broadminded enough to accommodate all the different individuals who visit the library. To investigate how the concept of family is produced in a children's library environment, I conducted semi structured interviews with six librarians, and observed five children´s libraries. The study, which is a qualitative small-N study has been conducted on a limited number of public libraries and is performed with an intersectional and queer theory perspective. The focus has been on norms, normality, normativity and heteronormativity. The image of family that emerged most clearly in the study was the image of the western heterosexual constellation. Interviews with children´s librarians showed that other family constellations are welcome in the library environment, but is usually treated as a project or as themes. The norms concerning the concept of the family is clear: family equals two Swedish born heterosexual parents with biological children. Norms regarding gender and ethnicity became clear in, among other things, the ideas that the mother is expected to be the one who is at home during the baby's first months and that visitors with a native language other than Swedish are uninterested by the library and need more engagement from the librarians to find their way to the library and its activities. There is thus a normative approach to the concept of family in the library environment, which affect how the visitors can recognize and experience their own situation- either as normal or abnormal.