The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine and analyze the discourse concerning a new Public Library in Stockholm. The paper further discusses how this discourse corresponds with what is written about public libraries in a number of national and international documents. To do this I have utilized the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe. By using some of their instruments I have established the discourse around a number of keywords.

The aim of this thesis is to find out how users and libraries are constructed at Public Library websites in Sweden from a web 2.0 perspective. We discuss the development of public libraries in Swedish history and the change from an system oriented perspective to a individual oriented perspective and how these perspectives correspond to needs of the library user. We also discuss the concept of web 2.0 and library 2.0. These concepts are open for different interpretations. Some writers believe that web 2.0 and library 2.0 is something radically new and that it will change the public libraries, while other writers claim that these concepts is just a marketing plan.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to study the Public Library identity from a brand perspective, how the Public Library brand identitity is communicated through blogs and what is communicated in them.The authors analyse the Public Library identity through selected concepts and a model within Aaker´s and Kapferer´s branding theories. These theories have been applied on literature and blogs as a method. The authors have examined literature about the Public Library identity in different works within Library and Information Science and political documents that applied to public libraries. An empirical study has been carried out on blogs published by public libraries in Sweden.The result of this study has lead to the identification of different core and extended identities for the Public Library brand. The core identities have been identified as democracy, adult education (the swedish word ?folkbildning? has no correct translation in english, adult education is the recommended related term) and lifelong learning.

The aim of this thesis is to study the effects of self-service on professional qualifications of library assistants in three public libraries in Sweden. The research questions are: - How do the library assistants experience that their professional qualifications have changed since self-service was introduced at the library? - Does the view on library assistants? professional qualifications and future differ between library managers and library assistants? - Does the view on library assistants? professional qualifications and future differ between the three different libraries? The method used is qualitative interviews with six library assistants and three head of libraries from three different public libraries. The theoretical framework for this study is constructed by theoretical ideas about professional qualifications and technology's impact on professionalism. The results indicate that the cognitive qualifications of library assistants have increased and social qualifications both increased and decreased.

In this study my aim has been to discover what connections can be made between the way of creating a library building and the general values concerning the library activities and the library users. What kind of ideology could possibly be reflected in a library room? My study includes two different parts. First of all there is a theoretical section based upon literature relevant for the subject. Here I try to focus on the libraryÕs role in society as a public room.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to analyze the relation between the discursive formation and the optical formation in the Public Library-apparatus. An ongoing individualization process in the library field and in society at large is used as a backdrop in the analysis. Discourse analysis is used as a method to explore the main Swedish library periodicals Biblioteksbladet, Bibliotek i Samhälle and DIK-forum. All issues from the years 1999 and 2009 have been used as material. The main analytical instruments applied in the analysis of this material are Michel Foucault's terms dispositive, apparatus and diagram.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine the importance of public libraries for individuals in their everyday life and to study the differences in views between the individuals. Questions posed in this study are: What do public libraries mean to individuals? Which differences between individuals views of the Public Library are to be found? What is the reason for differences to occur? The analysis is based upon qualitative interviews with six persons, four women and two men between 31 and 55 years of age. The theoretical starting points are Anderson and Skot-Hansens theory of four different roles of public libraries and Bourdieus theory of lifestyle. The study acts on a hermeneutic attitude.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what functions the Public Library has for parents of small children. If and how they make use of the library and what their opinion is about it. The research questions are: Which functions does the Public Library have for parents of small children? How do parents of small children use the library and what opinion do they have about it? Which factors have an impact on the parents of small children and how do they influence their use of and opinion about the Public Library and the functions of the library? The theoretical approach is based on Henrik Jochumsen and Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen?s model of the social room and the lifestyles and Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen?s model of the Public Library?s functions. To answer our research questions we have made seven qualitative interviews with parents of small children.

The purpose of this master thesis is to use marketing theory on the library?s activities. The marketing theory used is the 4Ps; product, price, promotion and place, as it's presented by Philip Kotler. Because the library can be seen as a service oriented organization Christian Gronroos theory of marketing in the service industry also has been used. A case study of the Public Library in Broby was made to illustrate how the public libraries? activities can appear in the light of marketing theory.

The bachelor thesis examines conceptions behind the Swedish public librarian?s opinions of the Public Library as a meeting place. The study uses the critical discourse analysis, developed by Ernest Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, to analyze a focus group interview. The discourse analysis identifies four themes in the empirical material: the imagined arena of the meeting place, the behaviour in the meeting place, the meeting place?s librarian and the polemic against the meeting place.

Futurum.kom is a collaborative marketing project with the aim of strengthening the internal organization of Länsbibliotek Sydost, Regionbibliotek Kalmar and the 25 public libraries within the southeast region. The project intends to externally build the brands of the public libraries in Blekinge, Kalmar and Kronobergs län. This thesis is a study and evaluation of the implementation and results of Futurum.kom?s first campaign "Låna dig rik" at a Public Library. The analysis is based on the following issues:? What goals does the library have with the "Låna dig rik"-campaign.? What is the feedback from the staff's experience of the users in terms of needs and demands?? In which way does the library choose to implement the marketing campaign and what role do the users have in this process?? What is the internal performance of the library's marketing campaign, what was the experience of the staff of the campaign?? What is the external result of the library's marketing campaign?The method is based on a case study of a single library, with a series of interviews and document analysis of written and electronic documents.

The focus of the thesis is to examine the regional branding ofpublic libraries in Norrbotten, with the main focus on Piteå Public Library, in order to find trends that indicate a successful branding based on Hariff & Rowley?s (2011) identified key factors.The empirical data has been collected through a triangulation of interviews and documents. The findings show that they have done a proficient preparatory work prior to the regional branding of the public libraries, and that the libraries have worked together with a communication bureau in their marketing strategies since the beginning of the Public Library cooperation. The results also show that Piteå Public Library, through branding efforts, received another relationship with the media where the media now occasionally contact the library.The conclusion of the thesis is that Piteå Public Library promoted the library through campaigns that provide the opportunity for activities and experiences, and that they want to convey the image of itself as a venue for social interaction. The marketing of the libraries fulfill the most of the criteria, but there are still areas of branding that needs to be further explored..

In 1995, the World Trade Organization WTO was established. Today WTO has nearly 150 member countries, accounting for over 97 percent of the world trade. WTO has a number of agreements and one of them is the General Agreement on Trade in Services GATS. GATS control the service sector, and the Public Library is a small part of this sector. The purpose of this study is to examine the Swedish debate about GATSs possibility to affect the Public Library.

The aim of this MA thesis is to examine how users regard and receive the services offered by a specific Public Library. We also examine what the conception of service means to the users and how they perceive this service being offered by the library. We look upon if and to what extent the service conception depends on contact with the library staff. The methods used are qualitative interviews and analyses of documents directing the library activities. The Public Library we have examined in this respect is the Public Library of Västerås.

This masters thesis aims at a discussion about whether the Public Library will be an educating and cultivating society institution in the future. The method used is a combination of interviews with library staff in leading position and studies of the Public Librarys relationship to cultivation and adult education in a changeable society. The work concentrates on two main questions. One is about what, and in which way, changes, that are important for the Public Library and that take place in society now or within the next ten years, affect the future activities of the library. The other is about the Public Librarys relationship to cultivation in general and in the future.