A trend since the early 90?s has been that some Public libraries offer a special shelf containing environmental information to the community, but it seems as though the subject has been overlooked by the literature and the science community. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to study how three independent Public libraries work with environmental information that is made available to the community. The following questions were addressed: 1) Which arguments can be found as to why the libraries offer this activity? 2) How does the environmental work at the Public libraries look and what does it contain of? 3) Are there any similarities or differences in this work between the three libraries?To answer these questions interviews with librarians were carried out; observations were made to complement the interviews.

The aim of this two years master thesis is to explore the relationship between Public libraries and deaf adults. I want to know if deaf adults are a prioritized group in Swedish Public libraries. Deaf adults use Swedish sign language witch is a visual language and differs from Swedish. I discuss the difference in Swedish Sign Language and Swedish and the importance of Sign Language literature. I also explore what methods can be used for mak-ing the library service towards the deaf group more customer centered and service oriented.The lack of sign language knowledge among the library personnel can lead to communication barriers.

This master thesis is written in the purpose to discover which attitudes the Public libraries in Sweden and Denmark have towards offering popular music to their patrons, how they motivates their choices and why they make the choices they make. The essay focuses on the differences and similarities between the Swedish and Danish libraries and relates their attitudes to the Finnish researcher Sanna Taljas three discourses regarding music policies in libraries.We examined this by sending out a question sheet to Public libraries in Sweden and Denmark, the questions were regarding popular music's place in the library and how they build up their music collection. The question sheets were sent out to a total of 116 libraries of which 46 were Danish.The conclusions we drew after our examination were that Danish and Swedish Public libraries have a lot in common in the way they regard and distribute popular music in the Public libraries. Both of the respondent groups puts user demand high on the priority list as well as having a collection that holds significant works of many genres..

The purpose of this Masters Thesis is to explore the process of selection that librarians face when selecting and acquiring cultural magazines to Public libraries. The methods used are qualitative interviews and literary studies. A brief review is given of acquisition policies at Public libraries and of cultural magazines and the important role they play in Public libraries. Five interviews have been made at five Public libraries to find out what factors affect the process of selection when it comes to cultural magazines. Two theories are used as a basis for the analysis of the result of the interviews and literary studies.

The Swedish government has made the decision to transform the talking book system from an analogue system to a digital system called DAISY by the end of 2004. The purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine how Public libraries are affected by this system change. This is carried out by studying the current situation in Public libraries concerning the transition to DAISY. This qualitative oriented study is primarily based on interviews with four librarians and three library managers at six Public libraries. Management by objectives is here seen as a suitably theoretical framework since public municipal libraries are partly regulated by the governments goals and laws.

Libraries all over the world struggle against the threat of decreased funding and a lack of governmental interest. In countries with an under-developed library sector the interest from the government is often minimal or non-existent. Since the 80´s Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency has contributed to the library development in Central America through the Royal Library of Sweden. Nicaragua was the first country to be counterpart in the project. For a period of eight weeks I have completed a field study in Nicaragua and visited the National Library Rubén Darío and Public libraries in the country.

This thesis aims to study the impact of the transition from communism to democracy on the Public libraries in Poland. The central areas of study are changes in: the organisation of the public library system, the role of the public library in society, the librarian's daily work and job situation and collection development. The thesis is based on qualitative interviews with public librarians, public library managers and researchers in Warsaw, Torun and Gdansk. The theoretical background consists of chapters outlining thoughts on democratic and communist library ideas and Public libraries' responses to a changing society. The results show that the public library system has been affected by two major decentralisation reforms in Poland, leaving the libraries in the care of local governments.

As Public libraries in Sweden receive the bulk of their budget from local government funding, which has stayed static or, at best, seen small increases, libraries have been faced with inadequate resources with which to satisfy increasing expectations from users. As few libraries are over-funded in the first place, ways may have to be found to combat this situation. The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine alternative sources of funding for Swedish Public libraries, and my main focus of interest is that of sponsorship. The method used is a literature study combined with an empirical study, in which interviews were conducted with five persons each with long experience of working with Public libraries. The literary study deals with the concept of sponsorship, and the motivations for companies to sponsor are also examined.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to investigate children?s access to specific children?s activities at Swedish Public libraries 2005. The thesis is based on literature studies and qualitative interviews with children?s librarians, library directors and local politicians at two demographically different libraries in Gothenburg.The sub questions are: What measures exist to promote children?s access to Public libraries and children?s activities when it comes to: law and other political statements: different efforts on the state level and different efforts on the municipal level in the direct activity with children at Public libraries? What driving forces and needs justify activities for children at Public libraries? How will the responsible persons judge that the efforts are sufficient? The result of the study shows that children?s access to library activity has increased in the last couple of years due to reorganization, economic savings with closing down of library affiliates and because libraries have given priority to other things, like IT and new media. Children?s librarians have got new assignments and less time for children?s activity.The conclusion of our investigation is that children?s librarians are ambitious in their work, but unfortunately don?t give children?s library activity adequate resources.

The objective of this bachelor thesis is to examine how some larger Swedish Public libraries reason about the use of social media as part of their activities and outreach. To attain the purpose three research-questions were established; why does the public library use social media? How does the public library utilize social media? What extra value do librarians believe that use of social media can add to the libraries? function? The methodology used in the thesis is qualitative interviews. Six interviews were conducted with librarians in charge of social media at their respective libraries. Five of the interviews were conducted by telephone and one by email.

The main purpose of this Master?s thesis is to develop an understanding of why non-users do not use Public libraries by studying their information and culture habits and their relationship to Public libraries. One of the motivating factors behind this choice is the lack of earlier research on the subject, particularly qualitative research. The theoretical framework is stratified into three associated levels with Brenda Dervin?s sense-making theory on an individual level, Marianne Andersson?s and Dorte Skot-Hansen?s model of the roles of Public libraries on an institutional level and Pierre Bourdieu?s theoretical apparatus on a social level.

My purpose with the study is to investigate if it is possible to argue in favor of organizing Public libraries according to the client based theory. To create a base to argue from I have studied UFO, a department focused on young adults at the age between 15 and 25 at the public library of Malmö. This case study, performed by investigating the documentation of UFO as well as conducting an interview with the project leader, is the base from which I then can argue for or against the idea of organizing Public libraries according to the client based theory. Public libraries should always reflect the communities they serve. This challenges the staff of different libraries in different regions to arrange their organizations accordingly to their local population and to be flexible enough to follow the changes of this population.

The purpose for this Master?s thesis is to describe the similarities and the differences of the work at the Public libraries? children?s sections, between Sweden and Italy. In order to do that we examine the cultural political presumptions that Swedish and Italian libraries have, such as policies concerning Public libraries and children, on a national as well as an international level. We also look at existing attitudes regarding the work at the Public libraries? children?s sections, among authors of research literature in our subject.

Recent papers and bills from the Swedish Government deal with the possibilities  of giving all Swedish citizens the possibility of their own creative actlvities in the cultural sector. This work is about where such actlvities shall be placed in order to make them obtainable  for all. As an example of creative work this work takes computer-based music-making. At the public library in Odense, Denmark there is a weil functioning sound workshop where the public gets the opportunity of making music with some assistance from the staff. This work shows  that also in Sweden  the Public libraries are the most suitable  institutions  for placing studies for computer-based music-making  for the public depending  on the Public libraries'  traditions in adult education.

Several Public libraries are displaying media, such as literature, on the websites of their own. The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to make a survey of the display phenomenon at Swedish Public libraries. Therefore the authors of this essay seek to understand why media is being displayed on the websites of Public libraries, how it is being displayed and what kind of consequences the displaying will provide according to the respondents. The theoretical framework is based on different theories where marketing and availability defines the equal summary.