This thesis aims to study how librarians perceive the identity of the public library. This is done by focusing on how librarians perceive the library’s roles, values, and the role of the librarian. One of the analytical tools used to illustrate this complexity is theories on underlying values and identity perceptions in organizations. The method is semi structured qualitative interviews with public librarians. An initial method to structure the empirical data consists of a phenomenographic approach. The findings show that the overall purpose of the library is to promote a democratic society where all citizens are equally valued. In order to do this the library needs to fulfill three main roles and some values. The main roles of the public library are to promote the availability of information, literature, and to be an open room for meetings. The values are to promote participation, critical thinking, and empathy among library users as well as to confirm users socially. The library’s resourses and services are valued for providng quality, variety, non-comersial intrests, and new perspectives. Furthermore, two basic values are to enrich people, eliminate inequalities, and by doing so promote human equality. The role of the librarian is to make sure that the resources and services of the library meet the criteria of all these roles and values. The librarian thus acts as an intermediary between these roles and values and the needs of the users and is therefore an important part of the library’s identity. The roles, values and the role of the librarian that make up this identity are presented in a model. The study shows that any activity, meeting or recourse that goes against any of the roles or values might be seen as a threat against the library. Another finding is that perceptions of a limitless role of the librarian could also be considered a threat against the library’s identity. This is a two year master’s thesis in Library and Information Sciense.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-323732 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Jonsson, Karin |
| 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 ; 717 |
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