Our purpose with this master thesis is to look at school libraries in two separate municipal contexts and with the help of case studies try to reach understanding of how the municipal organisation in general influences and co-operates with day to day reality. In order to achieve this objective we have posed the following questions: What importance are school libraries given in relation to questions of overall management and goals in the greater organisation? How are resources distributed and management allocated in the two cases? How are the various school libraries in the two municipalities organised when it comes to workload, employee role assumption and teamwork? In the section dealing with theory and previous research we present the theoretical viewpoint and the literature of importance for our subject. This includes a short history, reports and laws, and also some research and theory on school library organisation. Our method has been to study the circumstances in two separate municipalities, Varberg and Växjö. We have interviewed a number of people whom we believe to possess relevant knowledge of school library curriculum and organisation in relation to such concepts as management, resources, role assumption and teamwork. These sources are school librarians, chief librarians, and also the library board members for each municipality. To attain a deeper understanding we have complemented our study with the review of internal reports such as curriculum and goal proposals. The main conclusions of this master thesis are that the choice of school library organisation seems to be of minor importance when it comes to the greater organisation context but on the other hand these organisations are of great importance when it comes to learning and reading activities in the school context. We also note two main aspects concerning function of the school library: “the school aspect” and “the library aspect”. When it comes to relating organisation to these two functions it seems that in the municipality of Växjö the school aspect” is dominant when it comes to the municipality of Varberg it is rather the “library aspect” that dominates. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate whether exhibitions and silent pedagogy can be used to develop more inspiring environments in the public library. Silent pedagogy is a term from the field of museum education describing the silent communication with visitors that takes place in exhibitions through introduction and orientation, layout and installation, as well as signage. In the 1980s, articles in a Swedish library magazine discussed the pedagogical importance of library exhibits and how they make the patrons aware of the library’s resources. This led us to museum education and a desire to investigate whether its theories were transferrable to the library context. Interviews were conducted with librarians and museum educators. The results were analyzed in relation to “the contextual model of learning” and the constructivist museum, which are two models concerning learning at the museum. We were able to apply the models and the language of museum education to the library context. The librarians had pedagogical intentions, but they were not pronounced since they did not have a language that provided a means to adequately express it. Our investigation shows that the term silent pedagogy can be useful also in the library, in exhibitions as well as in the library as a whole. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to investigate how public library users consider the knowledge of the librarians and to examine what the users expect from the librarians. To begin with, we contemplate our own view of the librarians, their knowledge and what help we expect at the library. Realising that we do not expect particularly much from librarians, although we have studied to become librarians for two years, we assume that the regular library user does not expect much either. This assumption resulted in our decision to investigate this particular question. To gather information about how library users regard librarians and their knowledge, we handed out questionnaires to the users at a public library and interviewed five library users about their opinion on the knowledge of librarians and about how they view librarians in general. The results from these inquires were analyzed according to the hermeneutic methodology and compared to literature relevant for the subject. In conclusion we find that library users think that librarians mostly know practical work, like sorting and lending books and other media. Users also think that librarians know about literature, information seeking and that they are service minded. What the library users in our study wanted help with was finding books, information seeking, finding study material and practical tasks, such as interlibrary loans. The users think of librarians as calm, helpful and professional. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this thesis is to examine librarians' view on the knowledge and competence required at a small public library and how they look upon their education in retrospect. Library education in the 1970's and 1980's was mainly practical, a vocational training, but since 1995 the education results in an academic degree in Library & Information Science. Due to this, we focus on the ongoing generation shift in Swedish libraries as an aspect of knowledge and education. The empirical study is based on interviews with librarians working in minor public libraries. The informants form two groups, based on their education; “old” ones and “new” ones. The interviews deal with questions concerning librarians' knowledge and competence, the library education and how small public libraries might be affected by the generation shift. Different concepts of knowledge and competence are applied to the empirical material in order to characterize the required knowledge. The result shows that four areas of knowledge are outstanding in importance to both groups of librarians, i.e. information retrieval, social skills, literary knowledge and general knowledge. The two groups differ in how they describe and value their education. Older education is valued as more relevant than the new one to these librarians. Whilst the newly educated librarians stress information as a theme for their education, the older generation was trained to mediate culture. In the future, information is supposed to be emphasized at the expense of literature exchange and outreach library activities. / Uppsatsnivå: D

During my time as a student at the School of Library and Information Science in Borås there was an ongoing discussion regarding whether or not the library and librarian were facing an identity crisis and what future consequences this may lead to. The discussion was and still is of interest to me since it most likely will have an impact on the identity I soon will make part of my self as a professional librarian. This master’s thesis is an attempt that to through discourse analysis seek clarity in what the future identity of the library and the librarian may consist of. I do so by examining articles from the two library journals Ikoner and Biblioteksbladet. Both what is explicitly and implicitly articulated is examined. What is said and by whom is it said? An examination of 33 articles reveals a complex picture that is later distilled into five discourses where a social discourse appears as the most prominent one: the library shall have social role and act as a democratic power in society. The parts that constitute the social discourse are also to varying degree noticeable in a populistic, conservative, human and technical discourse. Between some discourses conflicts, antagonisms, are visible. For instance can be mentioned the populistic discourse which starkly contrasts the conservative – they articulate totally different views on the future identity. When it comes to answer the question ”by whom is it said” the articles examined in this study are all written by a relatively small number of writers. Therefore I come to the conclusion that it’s possible to describe some of them as dominating creators of discourse. Furthermore, the interviewees whose opinions are put in print are mostly librarians which may mean that the expressed future identity can be a form of wishful thinking on their part, from their point of view. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to analyse how adult students in Swedish adult education seek information for school tasks. The focus is on how they use the public library and electronic information sources and their reflection on information and sources in this process. Also of interest in the study is the help they receive from staff in the public library and their teacher. Methods used in collecting and analysing data for this study were of qualitative nature. Four adult students were interviewed and observed when seeking information. Their teacher and the chief librarian at the public library were also interviewed. The main results of the study indicated that the adult students preferred to use the Internet because information was easily available. When using the public library they where pleased with the help from the staff, but often preferred to browse the shelves on their own. User education was restricted. It was mainly when contacting the reference service the students got the opportunity to learn information seeking from resources there. The librarians did not always have the time to help the students in the way they needed. Lack of information literacy was to a certain extent a barrier for three of the new students in using the library effectively on their own. Results also indicated that the teacher’s instructions were helpful in guiding the students in their task and their information seeking in suggesting information sources. / Uppsatsnivå: D

This master’s thesis investigates how six Swedish public libraries integrate equality aspects in their user oriented activity. The theoretical starting point for the study is that Sweden is a part of a gender system characterized by gender separation and male superiority, as described by the Swedish historian Yvonne Hirdman and theories that argue that femininity and masculinity are social constructions. Another starting point is that the library sphere cannot be separated from the gender inequality in society. Since the library is part of a gender system that value individuals who are seen as males and separates men and women, some of the library users may be neglected. Research shows that there are significant differences between men’s and women’s usage of public libraries, which could be an indication that women and men do not have the same access to the library’s services. Qualitative interviews were performed with six librarians in order to gather data. The conclusions drawn from this study were that the investigated libraries did not work on a conscious level with equality in their user oriented activity. One of the main reasons for this was that the informants did not consider the differences between the sexes’ usage of the library as an equality issue. They also lacked clear directives from the steering documents and their view on gender was based on a biological ideology, which sees differences between the sexes as natural. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to accomplish an understanding for how librarians purchase fiction literature in public libraries. To answer these questions, we have performed four qualitative interviews with librarians in three Swedish municipalities. We have also performed a smaller document study to give us an overview of the used guidelines at the selected libraries. The results of our survey have been analyzed on the basis of our revised version of Sanna Talja’s model The Interpretative Repertoires of the Music Library. Our findings show that the librarians in our study are using several documented guidelines and standards in their work. The standards considered to be most important appear to be the librarians own experiences, while the library’s cultural documents and library plans are their primary source for guidelines. The purchase process is handled differently in all of our examined libraries, and because of the literary institution’s constant change, there could be several problems concerning selection when it comes to quality. The public’s demand for literature is considered a priority when the interviewed librarians make their selection, which is also influenced by the librarians’ own tastes.

The aim of this master thesis is to study what relationship mentally disabled adults have with the public library and what factors affect their meeting with the library. The work of the library is also studied so that the experiences of the mentally disabled can be put in relation to the work performed for the group. The method used was interviews with four mentally disabled adults and one librarian responsible for the social function and availability at the library. As a theoretical framework Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen’s model over the profiles of the library and Michael Buckland’s barriers, which must be overcome to achieve full access to information, were used. The informants have a positive attitude towards both the library and the library staff and visit the library regularly. They use the library primarily for borrowing different kinds of literature and two of the informants also use the library for study purposes. Factors that positively affect the meeting with the library are the librarians and sufficient and adapted signs and displays. The informants experience difficulties at the adult section of the library where the display is not adapted and when trying to use the computers. Many of the obstacles arise because of lack of know-ledge about the library among the mentally disabled and due to the lack of knowledge on the part of the librarians regarding this user group. To overcome these barriers user education and contact and cooperation between mentally disabled and the public library may be employed.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to analyze the relation between the discursive formation and the optical formation in the public library-apparatus. An ongoing individualization process in the library field and in society at large is used as a backdrop in the analysis. Discourse analysis is used as a method to explore the main Swedish library periodicals Biblioteksbladet, Bibliotek i Samhälle and DIK-forum. All issues from the years 1999 and 2009 have been used as material. The main analytical instruments applied in the analysis of this material are Michel Foucault's terms dispositive, apparatus and diagram. My analysis results in the identification of an individualization diagram which organizes the public library discourse and the public library space planning. This can be observed in the way the library discourse has an intensified focus on the user as a free individualistic subject and in the conveyed understanding of knowledge as relative and individual. The structure of the library space also follows an individualistic organization with an emphasis on flexibility and diversity of use. This may result in a diffuse understanding of how the library should be used. It could also become more difficult for the public libraries to claim legitimacy in society.