In this bachelor's thesis we wanted to explore the complexities of collections management in a Swedish prison library. One of the many challenges of being a prison librarian is determining which literature is appropriate. A prison librarian must consider the guidelines established by the state agency Kriminalvården, whilst also considering the Swedish library law. A client is entitled to have access to the same level of service as the rest of the population, but cannot receive literature which may harm their rehabilitation or encourage future criminal behavior. Herein lies the problem. Using a phenomenographic approach, we have conducted five qualitative, semi-explorative interviews with five different prison librarians. We wanted to be able to determine who makes the decision on what literature is restricted, what the librarians think of the resulting censorship when it is restricted, and how they experience having to navigate this challenge. We determined that it is the state agency that decides what is allowed to the clients, but the prison librarians feel that decisions are not clearly motivated. The librarians also experience a lot of positive interactions in their decisions around collection management and with the clients, but that they are not taken into consideration regarding decisions made by the authorities. There is also a need for more resources, time and visibility in the larger library-discussion. We suggest that there is a need for clearer communication, more involvement for the librarians and a need for clearer guidelines.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-220025 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Krogen, Silje, Hammar, Jesper |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Sociologiska institutionen |
| 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 |
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