The purpose of this paper is to examine youth spaces in public libraries from an explorative point of view, by identifying which needs of the target group are currently being prioritized and what kind of obstacles needs to be overcome in the planning process. The approach chosen is the case study. Interviews were conducted with librarians working with youths, and observations of youth spaces were carried out in an attempt to gain information about usage. The material was processed through thematic analysis in a comparison between the three libraries and the theoretical framework used through the analysis is Jochumsen, Hvenegaard Rasmussen & Skot-Hansen’s four-space model and its predecessor.Results from the study show that the examined libraries share similar experiences during the planning processes, and the found obstacles can be directed to either the category organization and planning (concerning the planning process and the lack of time, money or an understanding leadership) or architecture and interior (concerning the lack of space, adequate furniture or proper signage). The three main themes or library functions concerning the youth spaces are: 1, a relaxing place to hang out; 2, a rich, varied and easy accessible media collection; 3, a creative place to express oneself. The conducted observations reveal that the youth spaces are heavily used by library visitors outside the target group, with an age range from approximately 1 to 75 years.In conclusion I have found that the four-space model answers well enough to the three themes extracted from the results to support usage of the model in further studies applied to this specific area of research. A youth space which include all three themes would best answer to the many needs of the target group, although several obstacles must be overcome to reach this level. Furthermore there seems to exist a strong consensus about the importance of youth participation in planning processes, but a lack of knowledge concerning methods for reaching out to youths hinders this work.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-153452 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Engström, Maria |
| 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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