The aim of this master thesis is to examine how two Swedish libraries approach library tourism. Library tourism is a growing phenomenon seen in libraries across the world. The case study has been made on the National Library of Sweden and Stockholm Public Library. The study was conducted through qualitative measures in which methodological techniques have been used, such as interviews and analysis of relevant documents from an organizational perspective. The study aims to determine how two libraries in Stockholm are used as tourist attractions and how the personnel perceive their workplace as being a tourist attraction. The analysis is based on Foucault’s theories primarily addressing the relationship between power and knowledge and the theories of economic, social, environmental, and cultural implications of tourist-related services by both John Urry and Jonas Larsen as well as the authors So-Min Cheong and Marc L Miller. The study shows that neither of the two examined libraries has special staff for dealing with tourists, nor guidelines for this activity. The study also shows that libraries can be viewed as important rising cultural tourist attractions during the last years. Having an increasing number of tourists has been disturbing for the locals and those employed at the libraries. Both libraries’ primary focus is being an indispensable part of community life as promoter of literacy, provider of a wide range of reading material for all ages and wide-ranging loan services based on systems of branch libraries. This study suggests that both libraries have a similar approach to tourism, but also that they could be more involved in the process in order to make tourism available on their own terms. Disclaimer: This subject was decided/chosen in November 2019 before the outbreak of Covid-19 which made future tourism development more uncertain. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-419970 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Granath, Otto |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för ABM |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Uppsatser inom biblioteks- & informationsvetenskap, 1650-4267 ; 800 |
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