The religious book club provides a fascinating location for observing the social construction of reality. This study sets out to discover how religious identities affected reading and how reading affected religious identity through examining social reading. Seven book groups, all in the Boston area, participated. Three groups were affiliated with a church or synagogue, three had no religious affiliation, and the seventh was transitioning away from a religious affiliation. Fieldwork within the groups and individual interviews are analyzed using grounded theory techniques. All readers used reading to pursue aims such as relationships, educational status, and transformations of identity, but only readers within the religiously affiliated groups experienced an "inflection" of those aims. While readers in nonreligious book groups developed friendships, the religious book group members developed a sense of congregational identity. Nonreligious group readers sought to be "well read" religious group members sought to be articulate believers. Many readers sought to transform themselves through books, but religious groups transformed their members through emphasizing boundaries and identities, constructing shared definitions of "religion." Nonreligious group members were unconcerned with tying book club identity to personal identity. Religious groups, through confirming and challenging definitions of religion, developed religious identities that were expected to have deeper relevance to individual lives. Individual religious identity did not inflect the aims of reading, since religious individuals in nonreligious groups did not develop their sense of belonging, status, or identity around religious constructions. Within religious groups, it was not religious doctrines, ethics, or awe that produced the religious inflection of reading's aims. Only the affiliation with a formal religious institution was necessary. This demonstrates that religion functions not as a foundational worldview for its adherents, but as a thin container that offers the opportunity to develop a deeper, more durable identity. Despite reading's construction as a primarily individual activity, these findings also demonstrate how the social infrastructure of reading can have important effects.

This case study aims to investigate the relationship between the online reading group meetings (ORG) and reading difficulties among upper-level learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL learners). Based on Bernhardt’s constructivist model of L2 reading (1986, 1991) and sociocultural perspectives, this study attempts to answer two research questions: 1. What reading difficulties upper-level CFL learners encountered when they read in Chinese? 2. What components in the online reading group meetings helped upper-level CFL learners to cope with their reading difficulties? How did the components help? Seven Fourth-Year Chinese learners at a university in the United States participated in this study and attended the ORG meetings throughout a semester to discuss five assigned readings. Qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyze the data. The data sources of this study included pre- and post-ORG questionnaires, pre- and post-meeting comprehension checks, pre- and post-meeting self-reports, recordings of the online reading group meetings, and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed a complicated and interactive relationship of the six components in Bernhardt’s model when it came to reading difficulties among upper-level CFL learners. Even though the participants identified word recognition as one of their top reading difficulties when reading in Chinese, the findings showed that extra-text driven components, especially intratextual perceptions and prior knowledge, played an important role in determining the participants’ reading comprehension. Being able to constantly monitor what they learned from each paragraph and which prior knowledge they applied to the reading was found to be a key to improving their reading comprehension. The findings also found reflexivity in dialogic collaboration, especially when the ORG meetings created opportunities for the participants to improve their reading comprehension via peer-to-peer interaction. The patterns of peer-mediated learning included giving corrective feedback, negotiating meaning, learning from listening, strategy coaching, and using English strategically. Whereas the instructor as a facilitator was regarded important to provide timely feedback and facilitate the discussion, the findings suggested that a peer-led group discussion was possible for upper-level CFL learners once they built up their confidence in offering help to their peers. Even though the component of the role assignment seemed to be beneficial for the participants to cope with their reading difficulties in the ORG meetings, the participants did not perceive each role equally helpful nor easy due to various reasons. The study concluded with a discussion of the implications for CFL education, teacher education programs and future research.

This two years master’s thesis is about book circles for children, arranged by the public libraries in Sweden. The purpose is to gain knowledge about how children experience their participation in book circles, and how they experience their own reading. It focuses on children aged 10 to 12 years, and their leisure reading. The research questions are: What are the book circles’ function for the participants? How and why do the children read? What kind of literature do they like? Do the children experience that their reading has developed through their participation in the book circles? What parts of the reading process do the book circles influence? The theoretical framework is threefold. Firstly, I have used Aidan Chambers’ reading wheel, which explains the different parts of the reading process: to choose, to read and to respond to literature. Secondly, J.A. Appleyard analyzes children’s reading development through five different reader roles. Thirdly, Sten Furhammar, in his theories, finds reading to be either impersonal or personal, and that people can read either for the experience or for instrumental use. Appleyard’s and Furhammar’s theories are used to examine why and how the children read. The main method has been qualitative interviews with children participating in book circles. I have interviewed six children in total, from two different book circles, three from each. I have also made an observation at each of the two book circles, as well as talked to the librarians who lead the circles. My conclusions are that children’s reading behaviour is changed by participating in the book circles. The majority of the participant experience that they read more books and more genres than before; some of them also use their imagination more when they read. I identify several functions for book circles for children: the participants find new books to read, they discuss books, they have improved their knowledge of finding books in the library, and they have priority access to newly arrived books in the library. They also develop as readers, develop their empathy through their reading, and some of them make new friends. Most of the children read to experience the imaginary worlds offered by literature. This is a two years master’s thesis within Library and Information science.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka om läsgrupper är en vanlig arbetsmetod i F–3 och vilka fördelar samt nackdelar som finns med metoden. Studien utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Genomförandet av studien sker via enkätundersökning riktad till lärare som arbetar på lågstadiet. Resultatet visar att läsgrupper är en vanlig arbetsmetod på lågstadiet och att läsgrupperna bidrar till bättre läsförståelse, ökat ordförråd och bättre gemenskap i klassen. Några av utmaningarna som respondenterna tar upp är personalbrist, stora elevgrupper och tidsbrist. Slutsatsen påvisar att läsgrupper är en vanlig arbetsmetod på lågstadiet och att det finns många fördelar med metoden, som bättre självkänsla och ökat självförtroenden hos eleverna.

For almost a century Shakespeare’s work has been viewed primarily under a supremacy of performance with an insistence that Shakespeare wrote his work to be staged, not read. This prevailing view has ensured that most responses in Shakespearean research fit within this line of enquiry. The recent argument that Shakespeare was a literary dramatist who wrote for readers—as well as audiences—has met with resistance. This thesis first exposes the very literate world Shakespeare lived in and his own perception of that world, which embraces a writer who wrote for readers. The material evidence of readers begins in Shakespeare’s own lifetime and grows steadily, evidenced by the editorial methods used to facilitate reading, the profusion of books specifically for readers of general interest, and the thousands of lay reading circles formed to enjoy and study the plays. Readers of the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries are shown to have spontaneously responded to the works as literature, as reading Shakespeare aloud within a family or social circle has a tenacious history. For three hundred years after Shakespeare’s death it was readers and Shakespeare reading groups who created and maintained Shakespeare’s legacy as a literary icon and national hero. The history of millions of lay readers reading aloud in community was engulfed by the transition of the texts into academia and performance criticism until by the 1940s Shakespeare reading groups were virtually non-existent. A new genre of editorial practice can support a re-emergence of community reading and point toward a greater acceptance of Shakespeare as a literary dramatist, enlarging the field of Shakespearean scholarship and criticism. A prototype of a Readers’ Edition of a Shakespearean play specifically edited and designed for reading aloud in groups is included with this thesis.

The aim of this master‟s thesis is to investigate the value and impact that reading groups organized by Swedish Public Libraries, have on its participants, role of the librarian and the Library as whole, according to librarian‟s conceptions. In literature and earlier research reading groups are described to represent an important reader pro-motion tool for Public Libraries. At the same time the typical reading group member is often described as a per-son with a familiarity of reading. Another purpose is therefore to investigate the contribution of reading groups in promoting reading, according to librarian‟s conceptions. A phenomenographic approach was adopted and qualit-ative interviews were carried out with five librarians at five Public Libraries. The phenomenographic analysis of the interview-material, concerning reading groups impact on its partici-pants and the Library as a whole, resulted in the following categories: reading groups perceives as a natural part of the Public Library service, reading groups inspirer to reading and literature interest, reading groups leads to human interactions and shared reading experiences, reading groups has a democratic function, limitations of reading groups and reading groups part in reading promotion. Comparisons have also been made to how reading groups fit the Public Library task, as it is described in Swedish Library law and Unesco‟s Public Library manifes-to. The analysis of the interview-material shows that reading groups in many ways fit the task of Public Library service, like promoting literature and reading, supporting individual development and be available to everyone. The phenomenographical analysis of the interview-material, concerning the librarian‟s part in reading groups, resulted in the following categories: administrator, educator, social inspirer and competence and interest for fiction. Comparisons are also made to Jofrid Karner Smidts thesis concerning the five different roles a libra-rian should fulfill working with literature promotion. Based on her thesis it´s foremost the librarian as a critic and literature expert, educator and as ordinary person that correspond with the interviewed librarians perceptions about what part they play and should play in reading groups. One distinct conception that transpired in the interview-material is that reading groups organized by Swe-dish Public Libraries do not necessarily have a specific reading promotion purpose, but that reading groups have potential to have a positive impact on the participants reading habits. Further that more active work from the librarians is required, in order to fulfill a reading promotion function. One of this thesis most important conclu-sions is that there seems to exist a need to make the literature-promotion task of Public Libraries more visible, that it is important that librarians is given the opportunity to develop their competence to fulfill this task and that reading groups can fulfill an important aspect in that context. This study is a two years master´s thesis in library and information science.

O objetivo dessa pesquisa foi lançar luz à questão da experiência estética da leitura literária dialógica e seus efeitos para os sujeitos, no âmbito da prática social de clubes de leitura. Para tal, buscou-se compreender como se dá essa experiência, descrever suas características e compreender a influência de seus efeitos na subjetividade e sociabilidade dos leitores e leitoras, procurando revelar como sujeitos comuns a vivenciam no cotidiano. Foi utilizado o método fenomenológico em pesquisa qualitativa aplicado a três grupos de pessoas de ambos os sexos e com idades entre 23 e 52 anos (considerando apenas os participantes fixos), integrantes de três clubes de leitura com perfis e preferências literárias variadas, em funcionamento na capital e região metropolitana de São Paulo. A discussão de resultados foi realizada por meio de um diálogo interdisciplinar entre teóricos da fenomenologia, da antropologia, da estética e da teoria literária. Os achados da pesquisa envolvem questões relativas à peculiar relação das mulheres com a leitura e com a literatura; a possibilidade de ampliação das formas de subjetivação a partir do encontro com o livro e do diálogo com outros leitores e leitoras e a criação de novos espaços de pertencimento propiciados por esses encontros / The aim of this research was to shed light on the question of the aesthetic experience of literary reading and its effects on subjects within the social practice of reading clubs. To do this, we sought to understand how this experience is given, to describe its characteristics and to understand the influence of its effects on the subjectivity and sociability of readers, trying to reveal how common subjects experience it in everyday life. The phenomenological method in qualitative research was applied to three groups of people of both genders and aged between 23 and 52 years (considering only the fixed participants), members of three reading clubs with varied literary profiles and preferences, operating in the capital and metropolitan region of São Paulo. The discussion of results was carried out through an interdisciplinary dialogue between autors of phenomenology, anthropology, aesthetics and literary theory. The findings of the research involve questions related to women\'s peculiar relationship with reading and literature; the possibility of expanding the forms of subjectivation from the encounter with the book and the dialogue with other readers and the creation of new spaces of belonging provided by these meetings

Introduction: The first aim of this study is to gain more knowledge about why public libraries choose to organize reading groups for adults. The second aim is to shed light on the possible transformative potential of public libraries’reading groups for adults. Method: Semi-structured interviews with six librarians at Bibliotek Uppsala were conducted. Three of the librarians had an overall responsibility for the reading group activities within the organization. The other three librarians led reading groups themselves. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Analysis: A thematic content analysis was conducted to interpret the transcripts of the interviews.  Results: The librarians’ thoughts regarding what participants can gain from reading groups were categorized within the following themes: They can inspire more or more extensive reading, they can promote democracy and participation, they can encourage people to meet and fulfill an important social function, they can promote health, personal growth, and can give the participants new perspectives. This is largely consistent with previous studies reagarding what participants themselves state reading groups contribute to their lives. The result further shows that there are many favorable conditions for transformative learning within the library’s reading groups. Conclusion: The librarians see that the reading groups can fulfill more functions than promoting reading. Among other things, they point out that the reading groups, for several different reasons, are in line with the library’s democratic mission. Based on the theory of transformative learning, it is possible to see the potential of reading grups to promote critical reflection. According to the theory of transformative learning, it is believed that it is of the utmost importance that citizens of democratic societies develop their critical thinking. Thus, reading groups that develop the participants' ability to reflect could therefore also be justified on the basis of the library's democracy mission.   This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The purpose of this thesis was to, in a selected municipality, examine the position of bibliotherapy in reading groups in public libraries. To attain the purpose of the thesis the following questions were asked; What opinions does the librarians in the existing reading groups have on bibliotherapy? What kind of bibliotherapeutic elements exist in the investigated reading groups? Can the reading groups have bibliotherapeutic elements regardless if they were planned for such purposes? Could bibliotherapy be relevant to the public libraries work with the target group mental disabilities in accordance to library law? As a method seven semi-structured qualitative scientific interviews were conducted alongside one web survey. Six of the interviews were implemented with librarians in public libraries and one with two trained bibliotherapists at a hospital library. The theory used was Elizabeth Brewster’s development of Caroline Shrode’s three phases identification, catharsis and insight, where bibliotherapy is divided into four overlapping kinds of bibliotherapy: emotive bibliotherapy, informative bibliotherapy, social bibliotherapy and escapist bibliotherapy. The results show that there are distinct observations of Shrodes three phases in one of the reading groups that fit the description of Brewsters emotive bibliotherapy. In the librarians’ description of the rest of the reading groups, several elements of social, informative and escapist bibliotherapy can also be found. However, in those groups a clear identification of Shrodes theoretical phases are much more elusive, even if there are some similarities. The reading groups’ content of bibliotherapeutic elements appears to be, to some extent, independent of the librarians’ knowledge of bibliotherapeutic terms and denominations. Bibliotherapeutic work seems to be close to unknowingly performed by the librarians in the reading groups, which none the less does not seem to affect its efficiency. Further knowledge about bibliotherapy is assessed to be beneficial to the reading groups in public libraries, which in turn would contribute to the fulfilling of the goals in library law.