The aim of this qualitative study is to examine how users of talking books perceive the possibility of downloading talking books from home without visiting the library and how this affects them. Three research questions were formulated:How do talking book users reflect on their library usage?Have the subject's' library usage changed since introduction to the download service?How have users experienced the service?To answer these questions, five semi structured interviews were conducted with five different users of talking books in Sweden. All subjects were currently using download services which they had gained access to from their local public libraries. In analyzing the interviews, a theory established by Henrik Jochumsen and Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen in Gør biblioteket en forskel (2000) was used. This allowed us to better understand different roles of the library. The study shows that users find the ability to borrow books as the main reason for using the library. It was further established that the subjects' library usage had not changed since introduction to download services. All users reported satisfaction with the services. We have identified the issues experienced by users to be mainly connected to print disabilities or lacking computer skills. / Program: Bibliotekarie

Despite an increase in the number of scientific studies on talking books being done in the Library and Information Science field, there is a lack of research focusing on talking books in Sami, the language of the Swedish indigenous minority. This study aims to increase the knowledge about how access to talking books in the Sami language is being facilitated for pupils in Swedish schools. The Actor-Network Theory is used to describe and analyse how actors interact and connect with each other and how the resulting network affects students’ access to talking books. The ANT-analysis, which is based on data collected in qualitative interviews and from document analysis, showed that pupils’ access to talking books in Sami is not being facilitated by neither school librarians nor mother tongue teachers. The study identified the main challenges to be limited resources, but also steering documents omitting to mention Sami with disabilities and a lack of knowledge about talking books in other languages than Swedish. The study suggests that the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media, MTM, in their education material should encourage librarians and mother tongue teachers to mention talking books in other languages during meetings with pupils.