In this bachelor's thesis we wanted to explore the complexities of collections management in a Swedish prison library. One of the many challenges of being a prison librarian is determining which literature is appropriate. A prison librarian must consider the guidelines established by the state agency Kriminalvården, whilst also considering the Swedish library law. A client is entitled to have access to the same level of service as the rest of the population, but cannot receive literature which may harm their rehabilitation or encourage future criminal behavior. Herein lies the problem. Using a phenomenographic approach, we have conducted five qualitative, semi-explorative interviews with five different prison librarians. We wanted to be able to determine who makes the decision on what literature is restricted, what the librarians think of the resulting censorship when it is restricted, and how they experience having to navigate this challenge. We determined that it is the state agency that decides what is allowed to the clients, but the prison librarians feel that decisions are not clearly motivated. The librarians also experience a lot of positive interactions in their decisions around collection management and with the clients, but that they are not taken into consideration regarding decisions made by the authorities. There is also a need for more resources, time and visibility in the larger library-discussion. We suggest that there is a need for clearer communication, more involvement for the librarians and a need for clearer guidelines.

The aim of this bachelor thesis was to examine the notion of the intern in relation to literature and reading, and what roll the prison library has had, through a discourse analysis of the library journal Biblioteksbladet from 1963 to 2018. The following research questions were addressed: What characterizes the discourses about the intern in relation to reading and the prison library? Which subject positions emerges regarding the intern in relation to reading and the prison library? What roll has the prison library had in creating the image of the reading prisoner? How has the discourses evolved in relation to reading and the prison library between 1963 and 2018? 41 articles were examined in which two discourses were found named as “Someone else’s choice” and “The intern’s choice”. Three subject positions were found; “The incompetent prisoner”, “The competent prisoner” and “The criminal prisoner with psychological difficulties”. The library’s roll has been to promote books, in the first discourse books that were perceived as good and in the second discourse books that the interns chose themselves. The library also had a part in creating and upholding the image of the intern as a criminal with psychological difficulties. The conclusion of this study is that discussions regarding the good literature have been and still are present although the attitudes towards this literature differs. The attitudes towards censorship also differs and has differed throughout history although someone else has always had a part in deciding what the intern should read. When an intern chose literature that did not confirm any prejudice that might have occurred in society, it was still considered to be a choice that originated from the identity of the intern as a criminal or someone with psychological difficulties.

Denna uppsats har för avsikt att undersöka hur fängelsebibliotekarier själva ser på sin funktion i utbildningen av interner, och därmed även internernas rehabilitering och välbefinnande. Funktionen har analyserats utifrån sex bibliotekarieidentiteter framtagna av Anders Örom och mycket av den tidigare forskningen är av utredande karaktär då det var den typen av material som innehöll den information rörande svenska anstalter som var mest relevant för studien. Fyra aktiva fängelsebibliotekarier intervjuades och på datamaterialet gjordes en teoristyrd tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att den identitet som bäst beskriver fängelsebibliotekariernas funktion i utbildningen av interner är Socialarbetaridentiteten. Den främsta orsaken till detta är att fängelsebibliotekarier ser sin främsta funktion som att möta behoven hos de intagna samt att engagera och motivera dem på internernas egna villkor. Begränsningar för denna studie var främst att endast fyra personer intervjuades och det i sin tur gav ett ganska begränsat datamaterial. För vidare forskning föreslås en utredning av aktiviteter inom Kriminalvårdens biblioteksverksamhet.