This bachelor thesis explores how librarian graduates perceive the transfer from university to employment. The authors will examine how librarian graduates experience the relation between knowledge learned from university studies and the qualifications required from the employer. The basis of the thesis is the concept of transition process. In this thesis it is defined as the relation between the knowledge gained from education and the qualifications required by the employer as well as the problem to transfer knowledge between different contexts.The theoretical framework is build upon the concept of competence and its connection to re-contextualized knowledge. The empirical material of the thesis constitutes of five phone interviews with newly employed librarians. The interviews were performed in May, 2011.The results from the interviews have been categorized in a model of relations in which the analysis of the thesis is build upon. The respondents have all experienced insecurity in their own abilities as they have started their new employment as a librarian. However, they argue as well as the insecurity decreases with time. The results from the empirical study also indicate on discrepancy between education and work in a way that the employers do not know how to fully take advantage of the newly graduated librarian knowledge.

This thesis examines school librarians’ experience regarding on how their education prepares them for the actual profession. The method used in this thesis is qualitative interviews with six school librarians. Selection criteria were that the school librarians had completed their education within the last five years, to still have their education fresh in mind. The literature background shows that it is not uncommon that the librarian degree is considered too general because it does not provide a focus on specific types of libraries. Librarians experience that working with youths and children is a skill acquired elsewhere and with colleagues. Results from this study show that school librarians experience a lack of content focused on the school library during their education. Several of the respondents think that the education is more focused on public libraries than school libraries. The respondents believe that they have a good basic academic knowledge, which makes them comfortable in their role, but they were not prepared for how difficult it can be to collaborate with other professions, such as teachers. The respondent also say that what was taught during the courses was not always applicable in practice.