The aim of this Master’s Thesis is to find out whether bibliotherapy, in an unspokenform, is practiced in already existing group formations to be able to determine how practicalbibliotherapy can be seen in a Swedish context and thereby open the possibility for development.To fulfil this purpose I decided to do a case study on a nearby book reading circle for adultchildren of drug addicts. I made three qualitative interviews; two of the mentioned book readingcircle’s leaders and one participant/help leader. I used the following set of questions: What isincluded in the concept Bibliotherapy and how does that relate to practice? How has the bookreading circle examined in this case study proceeded, which methods were used and what kind ofliterature has been used and also what kind of effects did this reading circle have on itsparticipants. Can the library/librarian interact in any way in this type of external book readingcircles? I also studied theoretical work on bibliotherapy, as well as various theories on supportgroups and book reading circles, of which I presented a selection of in this thesis. Thistheoretical framework was the basis for my analysis of the result, which showed that theintention of the book reading circle had been consistent with its implementation; the methodsused were in line with the ones of the support groups’ standards and the literature they used wasnonfiction with a content directed especially towards the group’s main problem; the effects thebook reading activities had on the group participants were in line with how developmentalbibliotherapy is described being performed in a Swedish context , and finally; the informants’attitudes towards collaborating with a library/librarian were mainly positive. Thereby, all myquestions were answered and my conclusion is that this case study represents a number of othersupport groups/book reading circles and there would be a mutual benefit if a future collaborationwith the library was established.

The purpose of this essay was to investigate whether reading or the discussion of reading literature can enhance the psychological well-being from a user-perspective. The essay used the theory of Hynes and Hynes-Berry´s (2012) two distinctions of bibliotherapy; interactive- and reading bibliotherapy, to investigate reading and the use of reading as an impact on mental health. By the use of a survey sent to facebookgroups that regularly engage in reading and literature, it was utilized to showcase the two distinctions of bibliotherapy. The free-text answers given by the informants were parted into five identified themes, which was categorized into escapism, relaxation - to prevent stress, another perspective, insight - to identify with the story and belongingness. A discussion was also made about library and information science, which was used to discuss the possible bibliotherapeutic impact libraries could have on their users. The essay was summarized into conclusions, the last part of the text, where the question formulation were answered using the themes that had structured the results, the diagrams and charts that were presented in the quantitative results, and the two distinctions that structured the analysis. The conclusion of this essay is that when people read or discuss literature it is done with a positive result for their well-being. The study has shown that the concept of reading to enhance one's psychological well-being is an individual experience and differs depending on the person in question and their physical or psychological state. This essay has also come to the conclusion that bibliotherapy is something that could have a positive impact on libraries and their users if it got introduced and implemented to their practice. Although this requires a close collaboration between librarians and mental health professionals to combine their knowledge and create the best possible outcome for the users. Library and information science is therefore relevant when bibliotherapy is applied to users because of the librarians knowledge in the field such as information literacy.

Bibliotherapy is the practice of using literature for health-promoting purposes and is conducted worldwide using various methods and targeting different groups. In a Swedish context, bibliotherapy has begun to receive attention in both the general public and the library sector. Although previous research indicates bibliotherapy's health-promoting effects, collaboration in the field is relatively unexplored, especially within healthcare settings. This bachelor’s thesis studies the experiences and collaboration of hospital librarians and hospital staff within the shared bibliotherapy practice in hospital libraries. Six semi-structured, in-depth interviews with hospital librarians and other hospital professionals were conducted. The results show that successful bibliotherapy collaborations between these professions not only occur but also help to increase the visibility and legitimacy of hospital librarians in healthcare. Additionally, bibliotherapy contributes to the creation of meaningful collaborations between colleagues as well as patients. By applying the elements from Shove, Pantzar and Watson’s theory of practice, we were able to further analyze bibliotherapy as a shared practice in hospital libraries. Conclusions show that collaboration within bibliotherapy can legitimize both the bibliotherapy practice and hospital librarians.