The purpose of this master’s thesis is to investigate children’s librarian’s perspectives on children’s literature and reading of fiction books. This is a comparative study of Swedish and Lithuanian librarians. The main questions to be answered are how children’s librararians at public libraries motivate their selection and purchase of fiction for children and what kind of considerations there are behind the purchases. The thesis is based on four qualitative interwiews with children’s librarians in Sweden and Lithuania. The theoretical perspective of the thesis is based on a model of the three different approaches to children’s literature and reading - the pragmatic, the traditional and the emancipated. As a result we can see that all informants to a greater or less extent apply all of the pragmatic, the traditional or the emancipated views on children’s reading in selection and purchase of books, depending on several circumstances. Still, we can see that priority has been given to the emancipated and the pragmatic approach by the Swedish librarians, while the Lithuanian librarians give priority to the traditional approach. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to see how illustrators and illustrations are treated in Bibliotekstjänst’s binding booklets compared to how authors and texts are treated, i.e. the picture versus the printed word. My aim is to try and find out if librarians have the aids to acquire information about picture-book illustrators and illustrations in their selective work and reference work. In order to find out about this I need to examine the most common aid in this work, i.e. Bibliotekstjänst’s binding booklets. The investigation is of both qualitative and, to a certain degree, quantitative character. The investigation consists of three parts: literature studies, interviews with two librarians and a source analysis of Bibliotekstjänst’s professional readers’ opinions of picture-books in 2001. The binding booklets can function relatively well as an aid for librarians to acquire information about picture-book illustrators and illustrations in their selective work. This is relatively clear when examining debate, interviews and source analysis. Proposals for improvements have included an increase in number of words and increased possibilities to see the illustrations themselves before purchasing literature. In the reference work there are no satisfactory aids in order to acquire information about the illustrations. Librarians are mainly forced to use their experience in order to answer questions pertaining to picture-books. / Uppsatsnivå: C

Should libraries first and foremost be a source of free informationwhere the citizens can find whatever information they want, or dothe librarians have a responsibility for what kind of works theypresent to people on their shelves? A wild debate broke out inSwedish media in September 2012, after the artistic leader ofKulturhuset in Stockholm; Behrang Miri decided to weed out allthe Tintin albums from the children´s library Tiotretton. Hewanted to start a debate on stereotypes in children´s fiction, andwhat damage they do to children who face them. The purpose ofthe thesis is to carry out a discourse analysis of this media debate,and to identify the different views that are expressed on thedemocratic mission of the libraries, what media they shouldpresent. The method and theory is based on the discourse theory ofErnesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe and their concepts are used toarrange the analysis around certain themes that build up twodifferent discourses; “Freedom of information discourse” and the“Weeding out discourse”.The two main questions are: What views of the public librariesselection of works are expressed in the Tintin debate in Tiotretton,and how do the views relate to each other? What concepts arespecific for the debate, and what meanings do they get in thesedifferent views?In the concluding chapter I discuss which consequences theseopposing opinions can have for the future selection processes ofthe library. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this thesis is to examine the debates and discourses in Swedish media about the collection development and handling of controversial content in public libraries 2016–2018. The debates broke out after a couple of libraries chose to refuse purchase proposals regarding books and newspapers considered as controversial. Some libraries and librarians were in turn accused of censorship and making decisions based on political views when refusing these proposals. Questions posed in this study are: What discourses can be found in the debates about controversial content and collection development in public libraries? What views of the public libraries are expressed in the debates? What views of collection development in public libraries are expressed in the debates? What concepts, arguments and expressions appears in the debates, and what significance and meaning do they get in the discourses? Which subject positions appears in the debate? The theoretical and methodological framework is based on Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s discourse theory. The empirical material consists of 22 articles derived from Swedish newspapers, news outlets and library journals. The analyze reveals three discourses: a freedom of information discourse, a profession discourse and a collection normative discourse. The freedom of information discourse represents a view that public libraries should be neutral and objective in their work with collection development and serve the users with whatever they ask for and not base their decisions on political views or other values. In the profession discourse they argue for the importance of librarian’s professional considerations and following policies, guidelines and laws when working with collection development. In the collection normative discourse, they question the imposed neutrality on libraries and argue for greater freedom of action when dealing with controversial content that might undermine human rights and the idea that all humans are equal.

The aim of this study is to examine the neutral position of the public libraries in correlations to their including and democratic standards while managing political controversial material that can be viewed as xenophobic. The libraries aim is to work towards information availability to all and enabling the societal right to form an opinion. They’re an open arena for the democratic society with a strong sense of inclusion. But what happens when an opinion that is of xenophobic character speaks up? This material can put societal groups in discomfort. The study aims to find the tension in where does the public library stand in the tension of the neutral and political ethos, as well as what are the difficulties they can come to face? The data was gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews with five public librarians at five libraries located around the southern part of Sweden. New institutional theory is the theory of choice since it focuses on how the institutionalized organization relates to the surrounding world. The library should be neutral and objective while evaluating information, but the study shows that there’s been ramifications to librarians’ evaluation and decision-making due to an opinion that adheres to human values. A selection must be made, the quality of the work should be the focus, not personal values. The discussion has shown that libraries institutional structure can be a product by a higher organization. At the same time, pressure is being put on the library from the society from all types of angles. This is a balancing act; the libraries adhere to the bylaws that they must follow. The bylaws in question are the library act but also the libraries self constructed media plans. But the core of it all lies in how the libraries express themselves during the evaluation and purchasing of material.