This thesis aims to examine how public librarians talk about users in the context of self-service libraries in the library press, that means papers whose main group is librarians or people working in some kind of library oriented operations. The strategies has mainly been based on Foucaults theories based on monitoring and power and been investigated through a discourse analysis. The results showed that the user is mentioned in some different situations, often when talking about the library’s mission and services but also when speaking about security and monitoring. The discourses that has been identified have focused on the library as a place for all types of activities or a more market economy view of the library. A more security-oriented discourse could also be identified in the analysis. The conclusion is that users often are mentioned by librarians when speaking about the library as a place and the service provided by the library. Also when talking about security the users are mentioned. Users are often mentioned when talking about something positive or negative. The user is seen as both a possibility and a threat. Mainly the user is winning the trust from the librarians, but they need guidance and support from them. This view of self-service libraries raises the question of who will monitor the users when the librarian is not in place.

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how library users experience the space in their library. In understanding the conception of space, we have used Henri Lefebvre's triad of space which he writes about in The Production of Space (1991). We also used different interpreters of Lefebvre to understand his theory better. For this thesis we have interviewed seven users of one academic library and seven users of public libraries in different cities and communities in Sweden. All the libraries we visited were more-open libraries, that means that the libraries offers the patrons to use the libraries even when the librarians isn't there. The interviews had the character go-alongs, that means that we went along with the user in it´s library while we did a semi-structured interview or semi-structured interviews via Zoom. As a complement to the interviews made via Zoom the users drew a map of their library, in the way that they consider it, the method for this is called mental map. It was used as support for remembering the room and to place us in the room. We analyzed the empirics by using Lefebvres aspects spatial practice, representations of space and representational spaces. In our result we could see that the users experience of the library room was very integrated with others or the absence of others. Analyzing it made us understand what Lefebvre ment with social space and how bodies, our own and others influence the experience of space and how we reproduce space by entering a room. We also found that the users felt at home in their libraries and that the spaces filled their needs. The needs were to be on your own, to be in a place that motivates you, or inspires you in different ways. The library seems to be that place and also what the user expects to find in the library.

Sävar bibliotek ska införa meröppet, och denna studie har undersökt hur man bör gå tillväga. Intervjuer utfördes via telefon och e-mail till andra meröppna bibliotek, och en fokusgrupp utfördes med besökare och personal vid Sävar bibliotek. Vi undersökte även relevant litteratur för att hitta hur själva miljön i biblioteket ska se ut. Vi kom fram till att det är viktigt att information om förändringarna kommer ut till besökarna. Det är också viktigt att biblioteket ska vara en social miljö, så det är viktigt att arrangera det så att det uppmuntrar till social interaktion. / Sävar library will introduce self-service (“more-open”) and in this study we have researched how to carry it out. Interviews were performed through telephone and e-mail to other more-open libraries and a focus group was performed with visitors and personnel at Sävar library. We also researched relevant literature in order to find how the environment in the library should look like. We found that it is important that information about the changes reaches the visitors. It is also important that the library will continue to be a social environment, so it is important to arrange it so that it encourages social interaction.

The first staffless library was introduced more than fifteen years ago, yet little research has been published. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of staffless libraries through semistructured interviews with library staff. The theoretical framework was inspired by the concept of “values of worth” introduced by Boltanski and Thévenot, the concept of accessibility as formulated by Buckland and the concept of nudging as formulated by Thaler and Sunstein. Content analysis with a hermeneutic approach was used to analyze the empirical material. Based on the staff's own descriptions of ambitions and working methods, five themes emerged: creating a safe room, guiding to independence, improving access, adapting to different needs and inviting to a common room. The results indicate an ambition to meet the needs of the users by introducing staffless libraries. The study also reveals some dilemmas in meeting the needs of all citizens during staffless hours.

More-opened hours is a fast-growing service at public libraries in Sweden. The aim of this thesis is to examine how this new operations impacts the profession. How are the attitudes of the emplyoees affected? What are the consequences for the daily work of librarians? How may more-opened hours transform the future of the profession? These questions will be adressed by examining public libraries and combined public- and school libraries in the north of Sweden. The theoretical point of departure consists of profession theory, in particular Andrew Abbott’s theories and the notion of ”jurisdiction”. The theoretical framework is supplemented by Anders Ørom’s ideal librarian identities. A mixed method of survey and interview is applied. The data from each approach is analyzed separately and subsequently pooled, by means of applied thematic analysis. The result of the study shows that a vast majority of the librarians hold a positive attitude toward more-opened hours. This is found to be closely related to a user-perspective. Overall, librarians’ work is not dramatically changed, but certain routine tasks like book handling and tidying have increased. A new librarian identity, the Attendant (Funktionären), is suggested for maintanance tasks surrounding the more-opened service. Such a developement risks limiting the librarian’s professional jurisdiction and lead to deprofessionalization. However, the more-opened service may also support professionalization by relocating resources and competence from self-service tasks to more visible and qualified work. Additionally, more-opened hours may generate new areas for professional expansion, such as Library on demand and the field of statistics. Lastly, the results tentatively suggest that more-opened hours might play a part in interprofessional competition and a strenghtening of borders to the school. In conclusion, the impacts are complex but they offer much potential. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

This thesis is about the Färjestadens librarys users in a self-service libraries. Färjestadens library is a public library in Öland a island in the Balticsea in Sweden. The library moved to new facilities in April 2016. During these times they also obtained a new system: self-service libraries, which means that the user could use the library from 7 am to 10 pm every day of the week. This new change was interesting to examenine, how the users use the library room. Method to examine this was with interview guides and then transliterated and sorted in categories. The results in this studie where to answer two questions about how users used the self service and the second question what function did it have on the users? The findings were that Färjestadens library users use the library three of the four spaces/functions in the library.

In 2017, the City of Gothenburg implemented its first more-open unstaffed self-service library station. The following year, the first more-open library was implemented. The purpose of this thesis has been to increase the understanding of more-open library services and to investigate how they are presented in public documents and by representatives of the City of Gothenburg's cultural administration and culture committee. The theoretical framework consists of elements from neo-institutional organisational theory. The starting point is the view of organisations as part of an institutional context where the understanding of organisational development and change is analysed by looking at factors surrounding the organisation. Concepts such as legitimacy, organisational isomorphism and organisational fields are central to the work. The study has been conducted through a mixed-method approach and consists of a document study of public documents and a semi-structured interview study with three library managers, the chairperson for the culture committee and an official from the culture administration. The material has then been analysed through a qualitative content analysis where themes have been identified in the data collection. The study concludes that more-open library services are considered a complement to regular library activities. Above all, more-open library services are justified by increased accessibility to libraries and culture for members of the public. Even though not everyone can use more-open libraries, the more-open services are considered to increase the total accessibility in the city. The study has found some perceived prerequisites for more-open libraries, which can be summarized as follows: a suitable library facility, a quiet local environment with the library placed within a certain context, time for planning activities, technical resources, a pedagogical approach, and independent users who can handle self-service technique. More-open library services can both gain legitimacy and be legitimized with reference to increased availability and efficient use of tax funds. This is a two-year master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.