This master thesis investigates Bibliotherapy at a Public Library in Sweden. The result is based on the experiences of the participants in an ongoing group in the spring of 2019. The result is also based on the views of professionals within the area of Bibliotherapy. This essay has the following research questions: Why and how do the Public Libraries choose to work with Bibliotherapy? How and why do people choose to participate in Bibliotherapy? What are the potential effects (of Bibliotherapy) for Public Libraries and what effects are stated from the people using it? Fenomenological interviews were carried out with three professionals within the area of Bibliotherapy and three participants in the bibliotherapy group. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured manner. Theories applied in the analyzis of the interviews were Anthony Giddens theory of latemodernity and reflexive identity, psykological theories of the bibliotherapeutic process and theories regarding reading and its effects on people.  The results showed that profesionals expressed that Bibliotherapy is an important tool for people regarding the importance of conversations and in dealing with existential themes in their life. The participants expressed that they appreciated Bibliotherapy as a platform for indepths conversations and regarding existential themes. They also expressed the benefits of taking part of other peoples experiences. They also stated that the group was an important area for creating space for own time, away from demands in everyday life. The result also showed exemples of people relating to the bibliotherapeutic experience in a way that corresponds to aspects of reflexive identity. In the experiences of the participants there were examples of the bibliotherapeutic process mostly through expressions of identification and katarsis. Reading effects were also expressed as aestethic pleasure, transportation and escapism. The professionals stated that Public Libraries should work with bibliotherapy due to their aims in reading promotion. Also due to their obligation to take part in fullfilling the needs of the citizens in society, the potential library user aswell as the user. The Public Library can also benefit från being a platform for bibliotherapy thus confirming the importance of their role in society. This is a two year master´s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Introduction. Bibliotherapy is still in its infancy in Sweden compared to the USA which is seen as a pioneer country when it comes to applied bibliotherapy. Research on bibliotherapy shows that the benefits are many and the negative side effects are few, if any. This thesis seeks to understand what factors affect the diffusion of bibliotherapy among Sweden’s public libraries.   Method and theory. A link to a web based qualitative survey questionnaire was emailed to public libraries in all regions of Sweden. 90 individuals responded by answering the questionnaire which served as the basis for the analysis. E. M Rogers theory on the Diffusion of innovations was applied to gain a deeper understanding of the collected data.   Analysis. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the collected data. Meaning units were chosen from the data and then condensed without losing the underlying meaning. Subthemes and themes were then extracted from the condensed meaning units. The data was analysed in relation to E. M. Rogers theory and previous research which is presented in this paper.   Results. Six themes arose during the analysis of the collected data: the role of libraries, employee's needs, effects of bibliotherapy, the concept of therapy in bibliotherapy, knowledge of bibliotherapy and other methods than bibliotherapy. The results of the analysis of the collected data are presented under each theme.  Conclusion. The results show that the factors which affect the diffusion of bibliotherapy among Sweden’s public libraries are: knowledge, interest, time, resources, and the name bibliotherapy which in itself causes confusion and expectations.

Sammanfattning: Nationella folkhälsokommittén menar att kultur är hälsofrämjande, och då i synnerhet för utsatta grupper. Folkhälsokommittén menar att kulturella aktiviteter så som läsning av böcker betyder mycket för den känslomässiga och den intellektuella utvecklingen. Barn som lever i dysfunktionella miljöer av olika slag behöver hjälp i sin bearbetning av svåra situationer på olika sätt. Kanske kan kultur och då främst litteratur här vara till hjälp för barnen. Syftet med studien är att studera vad barnböcker har för betydelse i socialt arbete med utsatta barn och hur olika verksamheter arbetar med barnboken som verktyg. De tre frågor som studien ämnar besvara är: Hur arbetar olika verksamheter med barnböcker i behandling av barn som har upplevt svåra situationer? Vad har läsning av barnböcker av olika slag för betydelse för barnet och dess utveckling? Vad är viktigt i innehållet i en barnbok? För att svara på dessa frågor har vi gjort en litteraturstudie av böcker och vetenskapliga artiklar som vi har bedömt som relevanta för syftet liksom intervjuer med personal inom verksamheter som arbetar med barn och som använder böcker som en del av arbetet. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att barnböcker är en del i arbetet med utsatta barn. I studien framkommer begreppet biblioterapi som relevant då det innebär läsning av böcker i behandlingsarbete. Det finns emellertid inga tydliga riktlinjer kring hur detta arbete ska vara utformat och begreppet biblioterapi är inget vedertaget begrepp i Sverige. Läsning av barnböcker kan göra vardagssituationer begripliga för barnet, hjälpa dem att bearbeta svåra upplevelser och hitta lösningar på problem. Åsikterna går isär vad gäller innehållet i böckerna, men gemensamt är vikten av att berättelsen förmedlar hopp. / Abstract: The National Public Health Committee of Sweden argues that culture is good for the health, and especially for vulnerable groups. The committee argues that cultural activities, such as reading books, play a significant role in the emotional and intellectual development of a child. Children living in dysfunctional environments need help in processing the difficult situations in different ways. Perhaps culture, and mainly literature, can be helpful in this process. The aim of this study is to see what children’s books can mean in social work with exposed children and how different organisations can use children’s books as a tool. The questions which the study is aiming to answer are: How are different organisations working with children’s books in treatment of children who have experienced difficult situations? What importance does the reading of different children’s books play for the children’s development? What is important in the contents of the books? To answer these questions, we have made a literature study of books and scientific articles that we have evaluated as relevant for the aim of the study. We have also conducted interviews with people active in the field who are working with children’s literature as part of their work. In the study, the concept bibliotherapy - the use of books for treatment purposes - has emerged as significant. Bibliotherapy is not well-recognized in a Swedish context and there are no clear guidelines about how the integration of books in social work should be designed. Reading of children’s books can make everyday situations comprehensible for the child, as well as help children process difficult situations and find solutions to their problems. The perspectives differ regarding the story told in the books, but what they have in common is that the story should convey hope.

No description available.

Social skill instruction is needed in both targeted and universal contexts. This research utilized a universal social skill intervention, Book in a Bag (BIB), to increase the use of a specific social skill by all students within an elementary school, including students identified as at-risk for behavior problems. BIB was designed to integrate social skills into the curriculum by way of children's literature, specifically a read-aloud book using a direct instruction strategy. The results indicate that BIB had a positive effect on students' behavior in the classroom both for students identified and those not identified as being at-risk for behavior problems. Outcomes suggest that students used the skill across a variety of instructional, independent work, and group work settings. Teacher perceptions of the research were reported as acceptable. Teachers noted positive changes in their classroom. Implications of this research for practice include using BIB as a universal intervention to target specific social skill deficits in students, and using social skill instruction to increase positive student behavior.

No description available.

The purpose of this master thesis is to design a good practice for a bibliotherapeutic conversation series in a public library, regarding its preparation and implementation. Action research and its method cycles of inquiry is being used on a testing activity called The line of life. It is a bibliotherapeutic conversation series in five sessions prepared and conducted in the Verner Aspenström – library of Smedjebacken in spring 2024. This study is a contribution to the use of action research in the setting of a public library, and the goal is to develop and improve a practice. The testing activity, The line of life, is documented through my participant observation and journaling, and through the participants own journalling after the last session. In this thesis the action study is reported in a chronological manner. A thematic analysis follows, considering both the perspective of my own and of the participants. The analysis leads to general recommendations in which the following aspects are discussed: Information management, internal and external The value of being present Selection of literature and reading Access to texts and books Room for the bibliotherapy meetings The group The expenditure of time The conversation Many different paths and choices can be taken in the preparation and implementation of a bibliotherapeutic conversation series. These recommendations are grounded in practice, and maybe they can give some courage and confidence to librarians and public libraries who wishes to offer bibliotherapy as a part of their range of activities.

För att möta ett växande behov av tillgänglig hjälp för studiestressproblematik vid högskolor och universitet kan självhjälp som behandlingsform vara viktig att testa. I denna pilotstudie undersöktes effekten av deltagandet i ett textbaserat självhjälpsprogram utifrån kriterierna: perfektionism, prokrastinering, oro och livskvalitet, följsamhet och nöjdhet. Interventionen bestod av fem moduler för deltagarna att arbeta sig igenom under 5-7 veckor med minimal terapeutassistans. Nitton deltagare från ett universitet tackade ja till att delta i studien varav 11 inkom med såväl för- som eftermätningar.  Beroende t-test visade signifikanta skillnader mellan för- och eftermätning för utfallsmåtten prokrastinering (IPS (d=1.0)) och oro (GAD-7 (d=0.7)). För resterande utfallsmått för perfektionism (FMPS-PS, FMPS-CM) och livskvalitet (BBQ) uppvisades inga signifikanta skillnader. Följsamheten var låg, flertalet deltagare genomförde endast programmet till någon del. Uppfattningen fångades av CSQ-8 och visade att deltagarna till största delen var nöjda. Resultaten i pilotstudien ger argument för fortsatt studerande av självhjälp för studiestress och öppnar upp för en vidareutveckling av programmet i fokus, till exempel i form av en större kontrollerad studie med ökad terapeutassistans. / In order to meet a growing need for accessible support for student-related distress at universities, self-help as a treatment form may be important to test. This pilot study examined the effect of participation in a text-based self-help program based on the criterias: Perfectionism, Procrastination, Worry, Quality of Life, Compliance and Satisfaction. The intervention consisted of five modules for the participants to work through during 5-7 weeks with minimal therapist assistance. Nineteen participants from a university participated in the study, of which 11 handed in both pre- and post-measurement.Dependent T-tests showed significant differences between pre- and post-measurement for outcome measurement progression (IPS (d = 1.0)) and anxiety (GAD-7 (d = 0.7)). There were no significant differences for the remaining outcome measures for perfectionism (FMPS-PS, FMPS-CM) and quality of life (BBQ). The compliance was low, most of the participants only carried out the program to some extent. The level of satisfaction was captured by CSQ-8 and showed that the participants were mostly satisfied. The results of this pilot study provide argument for future study of self-help for student-related distress and opens up for further development of the program in focus, for example in the form of a larger controlled study with increased therapeutic assistance.

The aim for this master’s thesis is to clarify users’ and librarians’ views on patient libraries today. This aim is achieved by answering the following research questions: Which are the most important functions and tasks of the patient library, according to users and librarians? Which views on the patient library’s activity come with these functions and tasks? How does the connection to different cultural institutions, such as the library and the hospital, affect users’ and librarians’ views on the patient library? In what ways is the patient library regarded as an asset for health care? As a background for my study, and to give a context to the results, a historical background on the evolvement of hospital libraries in general, and of the case of S:t Görans patient library in particular, is given. Previous research on the subject of hospital libraries from different perspectives is presented and discussed. Aspects such as the hospital library as a bearer of cultural activity, hospital libraries as information centers and collaboration between library and hospital are discussed. Studies from the field of culture and health, about how cultural activity can improve patients’ health and about how health professionals can benefit from reading fiction, are included in the background of the thesis. The theoretical framework is a sociocultural perspective based on the works of Roger Säljö, with the concept of cultural institutions as a tool to analyze the views on the patient library. The method used is qualitative semistructured interviews with library users and librarians.  One of the tasks and functions that arise from the interview is to make literature available for more people. Another is to be a calm room within the hospital. The conclusion is that the patient library has a strong connection to the public library as well as to the hospital. Users connect the patient library more to the public library, but the function of being a part of the hospital is important too. The librarians connect the patient library strongly to the public library. At the same time, they express loyalty towards the hospital.

Submitted by Fabiana Gonçalves Pinto (benf@ndc.uff.br) on 2015-11-09T16:00:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO PATRÍCIA DA SILVA TRASMONTANO - MACCS UFF 2013-2015.pdf: 4275465 bytes, checksum: 6c5b54784137bd2f6a515531c5cd930f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-09T16:00:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO PATRÍCIA DA SILVA TRASMONTANO - MACCS UFF 2013-2015.pdf: 4275465 bytes, checksum: 6c5b54784137bd2f6a515531c5cd930f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Mestrado Acadêmico em Ciências do Cuidado em Saúde / Decifrar a dimensão espiritual que há no encontro das artes de ler e cuidar no acolhimento ao paciente vivenciando o HIV/AIDS exigirá do seu artista, o locutor/ provedor de cuidado, e do seu apreciador, o receptor/ paciente vivenciando o HIV/AIDS, essencialmente, de três elementos: significado, propósito e transcendência. Para tanto, a pesquisa teve por objetivo geral compreender as percepções de pacientes com HIV/AIDS no que se refere à sua espiritualidade e entrelaçamentos com a experiência da intervenção biblioterápica. E por objetivos específicos descrever, numa perspectiva fenomenológica, a dimensão espiritual experimentada no cuidado mediante a aplicação da leitura narrada como terapia; e, discutir as repercussões da prática da arte de ler associada à arte de cuidar, na humanização aos pacientes que vivenciam o HIV/AIDS. E abrangeu por questões norteadoras: Quais as percepções de pacientes com o HIV/AIDS no que se refere à sua espiritualidade e entrelaçamentos com a experiência da intervenção biblioterápica? Como é percebida a dimensão espiritual experimentada no cuidado, mediante a aplicação da leitura narrada enquanto terapia? Quais as repercussões da prática da biblioterapia associada à arte de cuidar, na humanização aos pacientes que vivenciam o HIV/AIDS? Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, com abordagem qualitativa, por meio de um levantamento em campo. O cenário da pesquisa foi o Hospital Universitário Antônio Pedro (HUAP), da Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), cujos participantes caracterizaram homens e mulheres vivendo o HIV e AIDS, maiores de dezoito anos, lúcidos, ouvintes, pacientes ambulatoriais da Coordenação de AIDS (CAIDS) e pacientes hospitalizados no setor de Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias (DIP). A estratégia de coleta de dados incluiu duas fases: 1ª – observação do ambiente terapêutico, identificação dos recursos terapêuticos disponíveis, busca de participantes, aplicação dos formulários, e entrevista (1º Momento); 2ª – intervenção biblioterapêutica, diálogo e entrevista (2º Momento). Optou-se pelo método fenomenológico, segundo Merleau-Ponty, para a análise, categorização e interpretação dos dados. Os resultados demonstraram-se satisfatórios e corresponderam as questões levantadas pela pesquisa, de tal modo que a biblioterapia foi capaz de promover o suporte espiritual e emocional dos participantes, ante a vivência do diagnóstico. Há diversos meios, sejam eles científicos, culturais ou artísticos, que poderiam ser explorados no sentido de promover a saúde e o bem-estar integral das pessoas vivendo o HIV/AIDS (PVHA), entre eles, destaca-se a arte de ler associada à arte do cuidar, sugerida para o desenvolver desta obra-prima / Decipher the spiritual dimension in the meeting of the arts of reading and take care in greeting the patient living with HIV/AIDS, will require your artist, announcer/ care provider, and its fancier, the receiver/ patient experiencing HIV/AIDS, essentially three elements: meaning, purpose and transcendence. To this end, the research had as general objective to understand the perceptions of patients with HIV/AIDS as regards his spirituality and interlacements of bibliotherapy intervention. And by specifics objectives describe, in a phenomenological perspective, the spiritual dimension experienced in care through the application of reading narrated as therapy; and, discuss the repercussions of the practice of the art of reading associated with the art of caring, on humanization of patients who experience HIV/AIDS. And covered by guiding questions: What are the perceptions of patients with HIV/AIDS as regards his spirituality and entanglements with the experience of bibliotherapeutic intervention? How is perceived the spiritual dimension experienced in care, through the application of reading narrated as therapy? What are the effects of bibliotherapy’s practice related the care’s art, on humanization of patients who experience HIV/AIDS? It is a descriptive research, with a qualitative approach, through a survey in the field. The scenario of research was the Antony Peter Hospital Academic (HUAP), of the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), whose participants characterized men and women living with HIV and AIDS, age of eighteen years, lucid, listeners, ambulatories patients of AIDS Coordination (CAIDS) and hospitalizations patients in the sector of Infectious and Parasitic Disease (DIP). The data collection strategy included two phases: 1st – observation of the therapeutic environment, identification of therapeutic resources available, search for participants, application forms, and interview (1st Moment); 2nd – bibliotherapy intervention, dialogue and interview (2nd Moment). We opted for the phenomenological method, according to Merleau-Ponty, for analysis, categorization and data interpretation. The results demonstrated if satisfactory and matched the issues raised by research, in such a way that the bibliotherapy was able to promote the spiritual and emotional support of participants, front of the diagnostic experience. There are various means, be they scientific, cultural or artistic, that could be exploited in order to promote the health and well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS (PVHA), among them, we highlight the art of reading associated with the art of caring, suggested for the developing of this masterpiece