This bachelor thesis has as its aim to investigate theSwedish librarians’ views and opinions about censorshipof their libraries' collections as well as buildinginformation about the context of challenges against thesame collections. In Sweden the public can't, unlike in theUSA, formally challenge material and are forcedto”complain” the subject with a librarian. What is deemedas controversial, both by the public and by the librariansthemselves are explored through qualitative interviewswith six librarians.The librarian's find that they rarely experience anythingthat can be called aggression or organized protests likethose found in the USA. The main arguments against partsof the libraries' collections seem to come from parentswanting to protect their children against what they deem tobe ”unfitting” themes, such as sex or sexuality or worksdeemed undignified, such as collections of jokes. Thelibrarians themselves are against censorship as a whole,but are very restrictive about the libraries' collections ofelectronic media. Video games and movies have to pass avery stern checklist to be procured resulting in a meagerselection for the libraries' visitors, compared to theselection of literature or magazines. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine parents’ and librarians’ views on censorship in children’s library. Similarities and differences between the opinion of librarians, and parents with children in the age of 0 to 12 years, have been examined. To analyse the result Jürgen Habermas’ theory of lifeworld and system has been used, together with research, mostly from USA, about censorship of children’s library. There is not much research available on censorship at children's libraries in Sweden, instead newspaper articles on controversial children's literature have been used in this paper to shed light upon the current Swedish views on censorship in children's libraries. Qualitative interviews with two librarians, working in the children’s library, and two parents, with children who visit the children's library regularly, were made. In summary, the research shows that there are actually not many differences in opinion of censorship in children’s library between the parents and librarians. A new question arises: why do we have a discussion in media about censorship of children’s library, when the respondents of this research think the controversial books should not be moved. And is it coincidental that all our respondents shared the same view on censorship of children's literature, or is it the common opinion among children's librarians and parents of younger children in Sweden?

The aim of this master thesis is to examine how Swedish public libraries approaches purchasing potentially controversial and anti-democratic books. According to the The Swedish Library Act, libraries should work towards the development of the democratic society and act for the benefit of free speech. If that is the case, how do libraries approach non-democratic works, for example works that speculate in racism or even genocide? This have been a widely discussed topic in media the last couple of years, fuelled by two decisions by the Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman (Justitieombudsmannen) that ruled that two public libraries acted wrongly in their decisions to deny purchase of a couple of controversial books that had been requested to be purchased by patrons. This study is based on five qualitative interviews of managers representing five different Swedish public libraries, supplemented by a review of the libraries steering documents. To summarize this study finds that there has been a shift over the last couple of years how public libraries approach potentially controversial books. In the past, it was more common for libraries to not carry any books considered anti-democratic or xenophobic. However, today it is very common for libraries to add these kinds of books to their collection. The only aspect a library can deny a purchase on is the “quality” of the work, not the values or opinions expressed in it. Because of the lack of a national definition of what exactly “quality” entails some libraries have worked out their own definition that they use when making decisions regarding media purchases. The representatives didn’t think that a national definition was needed and that and under the current configuration the libraries have more manoeuvrability and can apply their professional competence to a higher degree.