The aim of this master's thesis is to study how the design of the music library space affects how it is used and its role as an arena for culture. This is done in form of a case study of Library 10 in Helsinki, a public library branch that specializes in music and information technology. The backdrop to the study is the changing context for cultural activity in the information society and the role of public libraries as public space and meeting place. By analyzing the distribution of space in the library, the distribution of functions and artefacts and the spatial use of the room, I interpret the ways in which this distributional logic produces a unique place for music and culture. I discuss the music library design in a space and place perspective, utilizing theoretical tools from cultural geography and the space theories of Henri Lefebvre.

Today, many people have the need of contemplation due to higher stress levels in every day life compared to before. By examining the conditions of a secularized place of contemplation in greenbelts close to residential areas, I hope to contribute to a more balanced picture of how we utilize our greenbelts in the future. This kind of place is not a common phenomenon in our everyday outdoor environment.I have taken my starting-point in the traditional memorial and by that means been able to study the design of an existing delicate environment intended for mourning and contemplation. In this paper I review foremost the secularized place of contemplation in greenbelts close to residential areas from two central questions. First I examine its possibility to function as a place for mourning and contemplation.

A tough working climate and the lack of extrinsic motivation at workplaces within health care raise the question of what instead drives employees within this industry. A possible answer to this is Public Service Motivation (PSM) - a type of motivation that is based on the desire to do good for society and its individuals. In order to investigate this further we have performed a qualitative study consisting of ten interviews with people working with institutional care, where the purpose has been to identify the sources of motivation and determine the impact of PSM. The results show that the compassion dimension of PSM appears to be one of the most salient motivational factors. While the rest of the PSM dimensions fail to explain the level of motivation to the same extent as compassion, other factors are recognized, such as relatedness and aspects of the nature of the work itself.

Over the last decades, language in the public sector has changed due to influence from New public management. In this thesis, I seek to investigate librarians? attitudes towards a more businesslike way of speaking about libraries, referred to here as management-speak. For this purpose, I?ve used a modified version of the matched guise technique.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the public libraries work towards SFI (Swedish For Immigrants) based on the views of the overseeing librarians. To study this we have asked the following research questions:What distinguishes the public libraries? work towards SFI according to the responsible librarians? What distinguishes the communication between SFI teachers and the librarians according to the responsible librarians? What opinions are held by the librarians in regards to their work with SFI?We have used a semi structured interview method with seven librarians in charge of the activities with SFI at small and medium sized public libraries in a rural area of Sweden. The theoretical framework is composed of Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen?s model for analysis of the local public library profile and the authors? definition of collaboration.

AbstractDuring the last decade the public sector has been influenced by new ways of measuring performance and governing, taking inspiration from the private sector. The Swedish municipal community Vellinge has since 2004 adopted ?The Balanced Scorecard? by Kaplan & Norton, measuring not only the financial parts but also other, important factors. The adoption took place since the Swedish government applied new demands on county councils and municipal communities through ?God ekonomisk hushållning?.

The public libraries in Sweden has an obligation to serve all of its citizens, but despite of this they often fail to include their LGBTQ-patrons. Since the year of 2008 RFSL (the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights) have arranged a specially designed certification-process based on normcritical criterias that a chosen institution should fulfill to make their work more inclusive for LGBTQ-people. Sollentuna is the first municipal in Sweden to certificate all of their libraries. This study aims to examine what the certification have meant for the public library in Sollentuna and how a normcritical view can contribute to include LGBTQ-patrons at the library. As a method we used a qualitative interview-study to get a full picture of the certification-process and its influence on the public library of Sollentuna.

In Sweden, many children in compulsory school attend after-school recreation centres. All children are offered local after-school recreation centre attendance in the age 6-12 during their parents? work hours. Our aim with this Master thesis is to investigate how after-school recreation centres can use libraries to stimulate children?s own interest to read.

The purpose of my thesis has been to examine the public debate in daily newspapers about children in 1882. For material I have used newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet from the year 1882. My study is based on a regulation concerning public schools from 1882 and a labour law concerning child labour from 1881. I have also examined other articles that focused on children to get an overview of what the papers wrote about them. With the articles I found in the Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet I have made a quantitative content analysis. As a method for the content analysis, I have used text analysis as a tool. As a result of my study I found a total of 228 articles about children and of those 82 dealt with the elementary school regulation and the child labour law in various ways. The other articles concerning children discussed issues such as how to raise your children, charity questions and accidents and crimes involving children. These articles were written from a perspective where society showed concern over the children's environment. Often the articles expressed great confidence and trust in the public schools as educators and as a place for learning and supervision..

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze youth community service in the Kalmar municipality. Our focus was on juvenile offenders and predecessor of public authorities. The juvenile offenders in our study have completed youth community service. A qualitative study was undertaken which include seven interviews. Our empirical data were compared and analyzed with previous research data.

In this thesis we investigate the level of deliberative democracy in the current implementation of the 24/7 Agency in the local government. We are interested in how the combination of the two seemingly opposing ideals of Demokratiutredningen and the 24/7 Agency is solved. Our analysis is based on interviews with civil servants from three kommuner in Skåne and a schematic overview of their websites. As a theoretical framework we use New Public Management Theory, Deliberative Democracy Theory, and Citizen Theory.We have found that the local 24/7 Agency is initiated and implemented by public servants. Their experiences and worldview is mirrored in both process and result.

In light of the European Union`s 2012 theme year: Active aging and solidarity between generations I wished to gain an understanding of weather elderly immigrant are provided with equal possibilities and access to local community information as the majority population and their participation in activities arranged for senior citizens in the municipality where they live. I have done this by meeting with those who work in this capacity. I also chose to meet with representatives for immigrant organizations in the local community to enquire of their work with senior citizens within their own ethnic group. This is a qualitative study on a phenomenological ground based on nine interviews and four observations. I have had two theories to help me analyze my empirical material.

Integration is a concept that is very topical in today's multicultural-cultural society. Integration means that everyone should have the same rights, opportunities and obligations to society, regardless of extraction. What counteract integration is segregation, which implies a distinction between different groups and where there exist an inequality between them. Segregation is widespread in Sweden today and the exclusion that it creates needs to be broken. The aim of this paper is to examine if it is possible to promote integra-tion through physical planning.

This master?s thesis aims to study the practice of separating popular genres of fiction from the rest of the fiction stock, often seen at public libraries. The method being used is critical discourse analysis according to Norman Fairclough?s three-dimensional conception of discourse. The textual dimension of this analysis is the book shelf itself and the sociocultural practice is the everyday practice at a public library of supplying and mediating books to the visitors.

The position of middle-management is a role where the manager is at risk of being caught between its management and its employees. Elderly care is an industry that has been discussed a lot, to a large extent on how businesses should be managed and by whom it should be conducted. Middle-management in the business of elderly care thereby possess a vulnerable position in a controversial industry. In this study the aim is to investigate the managers' roles and tasks in both the public sector and the private sector in elderly care. It also aims to examine whether there are differences between the roles and how they in such cases is manifested.