The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the function of the museum library. The methodused consisted partly of literary studies, and partly of field investigations, conducted mainlyin the form of interviews.Two different sets of field studies have been conducted. The first one is an investigation ofthe museum libraries in Goteborg. After a preliminary study, three of these have been selectedfor further investigation. These are the libraries of Göteborgs Konstmuseum, GöteborgsStadsmuseum and Röhsska museet. Five employees from each museum have been interviewed,and asked to give their opinions of the library and its function, and also to describehow they used it. To broaden the perspective of the essay, an additional field study wasmade. In this, the libraries of Byggnadsvård Nääs, Stockholms Stadsmuseum and SkaraLänsmuseum were investigated. All these libraries exhibit a slightly different function thanthe others, mostly in giving greater attention to the public part of their work. The thesis concludesthat museum libraries can have served different functions, but the fundamental onemust always be to provide information services for the museum itself. The library is a tool forthe museum personnel, and their access to the information must be the topmost priority ofevery museum library. Once this is seen to, however, the library can have several other functions.Museum libraries are a source of information for researchers. It can become a way forthe museum to open up its collections to the museum visitor. Pictures and archival materialcan be computerized and made accessible through the museum library. The library can alsobe a way for the museum to market itself, by attracting visitors to the museum. In addition tothis, the library can be an arena for other activities to take place in, a gateway between themuseum and the visitor.

The purpose of this study is to present a clearer picture of the divided roles of museum libraries, to see how they balance working with two separate target groups, the public and the museum staff, and to analyze how this affects the work of the librarians. The research on museum libraries has been sparse during the past 20 years, and this essay aims to fill a gap in the research field. Our primary method of data-collection is qualitative, semi structured, interviews with staff at three museum libraries at Upplandsmuseet, Nordiska Museet and Konstbiblioteket. Additional data was collected by analyzing regulatory documents for each library. The collected data is analyzed using concepts from organizational theory, mainly organizational identity as formulated by Alvesson. The results are presented thematically in accordance with the main points brought forward by the interviewees.   Our interviews show that the primary function of the museum library is to support the museum. The libraries also aim to serve the public but are only able to do this to a limited degree. The role of the libraries is not formulated in any regulatory documents but according to the interviewees, this is not a current issue. Regarding organizational identity, the study shows that the libraries are all connected to the overarching identity of the museum. However, while the library at Upplandsmuseet is strongly connected to the museum's identity, the libraries at Nordiska museets and Konstbiblioteketare somewhat detached from the respective organizations. This could result in a weaker identity for the library. Finally, the librarians from all three libraries express a wish to reach an even broader target group outside the museum. Due to a lack of resources however, both in terms of budget and staff, this is deemed impossible at the present. This is a two years master's thesis in Library and information science.